Tarek El Sawah does not have BiH citizenship!

Tarek El Sawah, who was transferred to Bosnia and Herzegovina after his release from Guantanamo prison, is currently staying at the BiH Immigration Center in East Sarajevo, writes Žurnal.

Although official information stated that he was a citizen of BiH and Egypt, this portal states that Sawah currently does not possess citizenship of our country. The Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH stated in response to Žurnal:

“Tarek El Sawah, son of Mahmoud, born on 02.11.1957 in Egypt, is not a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as his citizenship was revoked by the State Commission for Reviewing Decisions on Naturalization of Foreign Citizens on 11.01.2007.”

Tarek El Sawah was registered in the BiH civil registry on 22.3.1996 in Zenica, and he acquired citizenship on 21.12.1995 by a decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed by the then Assistant Minister Boriša Arnaut, based on the then Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

That law guaranteed every foreigner with confirmation of being a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina the right to BiH citizenship. Although he married a BiH citizen, Sawah did not use that option to obtain citizenship. The explanation of the decision states that Sawah submitted a certificate of membership in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although it was unofficially stated that he was a member of the “El Mudžahidin” detachment, there is no information about this in the proceedings against him in the USA, where he was acquitted of charges of belonging to a terrorist group. Several members of this detachment, contacted by Žurnal, say they only remember him as an employee of a humanitarian organization. The fact is that Sawah started working for the “World Islamic Relief Organization” in Zagreb in 1992 and came to BiH in 1993 as a humanitarian worker.

It is not possible to specify how long Tarek El Sawah will stay at the Immigration Center and what his further status will be. Well-informed sources from the BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs confirmed to Žurnal that Sawah's daughter was allowed to visit her father a few days ago, which is their first meeting after 14 years.

Journalists from this portal contacted Sawah's daughter, but she refused to talk about it, fearing that she would endanger her father's status in any way, who is also in a serious health condition.

The fact is that the competent institutions are not providing information about Tarek El Sawah's further status. So far, only Igor Crnadak, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, has stated that no security or other repercussions of this case are expected in BiH.

“This is a person who, regardless of some things he did in the past, should not represent a security threat in the future by any standards,” Crnadak stated.

Well-informed interlocutors from the Ministry of Security, who cannot yet speak publicly about it, assure that there is no possibility that Sawah will be deported to his home country, Egypt. Article 20 of the BiH Law on Foreigners applies to him, which defines entry into BiH under special conditions, i.e., approval of entry and residence if provided for by an international agreement between BiH and a certain country.

“There is an agreement with the US Government that BiH will accept him, and he is placed in the Immigration Center because it is simpler for him to be under supervision until the ‘paperwork’ is completed, i.e., the procedure so that he can continue his life wherever and with whomever he wants in BiH,” says a source from the BiH Ministry of Security.

It is currently unknown on what grounds Sawah's citizenship was revoked in 2007, reports the Patria agency.