The Bill for the amendment of the existing Nationality Law of 1924, which it was hoped would solve the problem of the Staatenlose in Roumania, among whom there are reported to be tens of thousands of Jews, has now been presented to the Senate by the Minister of Justice, M. Valeriu Pop, but as it stands there is no hope, the Jewish representatives say, of the measure making any improvement in the position of the Jewish Staatenlose.
In some respects, the new Bill even adds to the difficulties with which the acquisition of Roumanian citizenship has been surrounded till now. It will not only be necessary for the applicant for citizenship to prove that he was resident on Roumanian soil on December 1st., 1918, the day of the formal annexation of the new Provinces to Roumania, but he will in addition have to show that from October 1st., 1918 until the date when the new law enters into force he has been uninterruptedly resident in Roumania and has paid his taxation regularly.
The lists of citizens will no longer be in charge of the local authorities, but of the judicial authorities, and applicants who produce false documents in support of their claim to citizenship will be liable to a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 lei, or to two to three years imprisonment. Any citizen may raise objection to the inclusion of any applicant in the lists of citizens.
This provision has given cause for great anxiety among the Jewish population, because in 1924; when the existing citizenship law was promulgated, Cuzists successfully raised objections to the granting of citizenship to thousands of Jewish residents, who are, in consequence, Staatenlose.
The Minister, in explaining his Bill in the Senate said: It so happens that I am one of those people who are acquainted with the problem of the invasions of undesirable elements in our country, and I know what a grave danger such invasions are to many districts whose demographic aspect has undergone serious changes, in consequence.
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