By Tom Squitieri
WASHINGTON – Three babies have been born on US military aircraft flying them out of Afghanistan, Gen. Stephen Lyons, head of U.S, Transportation Command, told Pentagon reporters Monday.
What nationality those babies will be remains to be determined.
In Germany, where one of the Afghan woman’s baby was born, citizenship is not established through birth on German territory but by descent from a German legal mother and/or a German legal father.
However, since the one baby was delivered in the cargo bay of a U.S. aircraft, it is not clear which laws will apply in this particular case: German laws, US laws or if the baby will be considered a citizen of Afghanistan, the country to which the mothers belong.
The citizenship of a child born mid-air is murkey because different countries’ laws. In the US, an individual can become a citizen either at birth or by naturalization.
In play now, perhaps, is the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, which states all aircraft have the nationality of the State in which they are registered, and may not have multiple nationalities.
Under this Convention, for births, the nationality law of the aircraft’s “nationality” may be applicable, and for births that occur in flight while the aircraft is not within the territory or airspace of any State, it is the only applicable law that may be pertinent regarding acquisition of citizenship by place of birth.
In short, the nationality may be up in the air.
The complication is similar when a baby is born aboard a commercial airliner. Despite the belief that babies born on planes will receive free flights for life, very few are known to have received free flights for life. The only airlines known to have given this privilege to children are Thai Airways, Asia Pacific Airlines, and AirAsia. In one case, Virgin Atlantic granted an in-flight baby free flights until the age of 21.
Stay tuned!
