The Portuguese authorities have decided to grant nationality to some Israelis being held hostages by Hamas in hopes that they will be released sooner.
As Folha has revealed, so far, Portugal has granted nationality to at least two Hamas hostages who were kidnapped on October 7.
Moreover, another five people, two of whom are minors, may also soon be granted Portuguese nationality as the authorities have decided to accelerate the process for them.
According to Folha, the granting of nationality to the hostages is made in line with a previously approved law. The law permits the granting of Portuguese nationality to descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the country during the Inquisition.
It has been noted that the hostages had already applied for Portuguese nationality. However, there were a high number of cases that needed to be processed before them.
Still, in an attempt to accelerate their release, the Portuguese authorities decided to process these cases before the ones in line. They believe that the granting of nationality to the hostages will contribute to their release.
It has been explained that the Portuguese authorities’ decision to give priority to the processing of these cases was taken after they received requests from the legal representatives of those being held hostage.
The first victims released had US passports. Taking this into account, Portugal believes that those holding its citizenship will be released soon, too.
As Folha reveals, the first person being held hostage who has been granted Portuguese nationality is a 52-year-old Israeli who applied for naturalisation back in September 2021.
Moreover, the same reveals that the other hostage is a 72-year-old woman who applied for naturalisation in 2020. In an interview, her granddaughter said that she hopes that the Portuguese nationality can contribute to her grandmother’s freedom.
While the Ministry of Justice of Portugal has not made any comment on the matter regarding the acceleration of the process, it is believed that if this move proves to be effective, Portuguese nationality may be granted to others who are at risk as well, provided that they have previously applied for naturalisation.
The regime for granting citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews has been in force since 2015, and the authorities plan to put an end to this mechanism soon.
Taking into account the current situation, it was expected that the Portuguese authorities would decide to extend the regime. However, the Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro said that no regime of this type can be eternal.
