Netherlands Allow Gaza and the West Bank as Official Birthplace

Den Haag, MINA – The Dutch Office of Population Affairs said Palestinians who living on Netherlands would be permitted to register the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as their official birthplace.

The Dutch Secretary of State, Raymond Knops said this to the House of Representatives that published in The Hague on Sunday.

Previously, the Dutch offered two choices for Palestinians when determining their place of birth in the Dutch Civil Registry, namely Israel or “unknown.”

Then, Knops wrote a letter to the House of Representatives, saying that he intended to add the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem to the list of official countries used by the Dutch Civil Registry.

A new category will be available to Palestinians born after May 15, 1948, the day on which the British mandate was officially dismissed in the region and Israel became a recognized country.

In the letter, Knops stated that this new category was in accordance with the “Dutch point of view that Israel had no sovereignty over these territories,” as well as the refusal of the Netherlands to recognize Palestine as a state.

Knops added that the new category was named based on the Oslo Accords and UN Security Council resolutions.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly and at least 136 countries have recognized Palestine as a sovereign state. Most of the European Union has refrained from acknowledging the existence of a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine.

Until 2014, Israel has been the only place of birth for Palestinians who registered in Netherlands.

The “unknown,” category also known as the code “0000,” was made available to Palestinians living in the Netherlands, after the opposition registered Israel as the birthplace. (T/Sj)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)