The former head of Transparency International Vanuatu says she's not surprised by the Government's crack down on loosely applied citizenship rules.
It recently revoked the citizenship given to a former Chinese national and also that of a French national, saying they were fraudulently obtained.
The government also earlier this month deported Australian lawyer, Robert Herd, for alleged breaches of the Immigration act.
Marie Noelle Ferrieux Patterson says many Vanuatu citizenships had been granted illegally over the years and it is necessary for the Government to review some of these cases.
"There is certainly a necessity to go back and check the granting of the citizenships and check certain cases so it is not a surprise eh? Deportation is always a bad reminder of some, probably misuse of power years ago, so it will be probably up to the government to issue the challenge in court. But in many countries that happens. You know, that's a matter of any sovereign nation."
Vanuatu lawyer, Marie Noelle Ferrieux Patterson.
