The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has recently granted citizenship to three stateless individuals who were born in the south Sinai Peninsula.

In a decision issued Feb. 11, the Ministry of Interior said it was “granting Egyptian citizenship to three brothers who had no nationality — namely Salem Halil Nasr Salem, born in south Sinai on Sept. 25, 1977; Radhia Halil Nasr Salem, born in south Sinai on Sept. 25, 1975; and Abdallah Halil Nasr Salem born on Nov. 5, 2001, in accordance with the fifth paragraph of Article 4 of Law No. 26 of 1975 concerning the Egyptian nationality.”

Article 4 stipulates that the Egyptian nationality may be granted by decree of the minister of interior “to whoever is born in Egypt of a father of Egyptian origin, if he applies for the Egyptian nationality after having made his ordinary residence in Egypt, and is of full age at the time he applies for the nationality.”

The article further states that nationality is granted “to whoever belongs to an Egyptian origin whenever he applies for Egyptian nationality after five years of ordinary residence in Egypt, provided he has already attained full age at the time he submits the application.”