DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced plans to grant citizenship to a number of foreigners to this oil-rich nation in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as part of efforts to stimulate its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic .
The UAE previously granted citizenship to Palestinians and others who helped shape the country’s government after its establishment in 1971. Others also received it over time.
Saturday’s announcement by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, who also serves as the autocratic country’s prime minister and vice president, said the offer could apply to artists, writers, doctors, engineers and scientists, as well as their families.
Sheikh Mohammed wrote on Twitter that hereditary rulers in the country’s seven emirates and at the federal level would nominate those for citizenship. Those who granted citizenship would also be able to retain their initial citizenship.
It was not immediately clear whether the citizenship would also confer rights on the United Arab Emirates’ social programs for which the citizens were in the cradle.
The UAE houses more than 9 million people, of whom only a tenth are citizens. In November, the UAE announced plans to revise Islamic personal laws in the country, to allow unmarried couples to live together, loosen alcohol restrictions and criminalize so-called “honor killings”.