New Batch Of Icelandic Citizenship Applications Approved

A fresh round of Icelandic citizenships were approved by Parliamentary committee yesterday, including a few very striking names.

Citizenship is normally awarded through the Ministry of Justice, but people can appeal directly to the Parliamentary General Committee in certain circumstances. This committee reviews these applications and compiles a list of names for approved citizenship, which is almost always then summarily approved by Parliament.

The latest list is comprised of 69 names out of a total 147 that the committee received. Two names in particular stand out on this list.

The first is Evelyn Glory Joseph, originally from Nigeria. Her name first appeared in the news in 2013, when an assistant of then Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, Gísli Freyr Valdórsson, leaked a memo to Fréttablaðið and mbl.is that contained a list of details about her and Tony Omos, the father of her children, who had sought asylum in Iceland but was rejected. The details in this memo proved to be false and misleading, leading to Hanna Birna’s resignation, Gísli Freyr receiving a probationary sentence, and damages awarded to both Tony and her.

The second is Nargizu Salimova, originally of Kyrgyzstan. Kjarninn reported that she had applied for asylum but, due to a mistake with a lawyer at the Red Cross, missed the deadline for appealing her case. As such, she was facing imminent deportation. With the granting of citizenship, they now report that her deportation will not go forward as planned.