Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Nationality and Borders Bill: Can you lose your citizenship?

Nationality and Borders Bill: Can you lose your citizenship?

The government will have the right to strip a person of their British citizenship without telling them, under new powers being voted on by MPs.

The plan - which is part of the controversial Nationality and Borders Bill - is expected to pass into law soon.

What is citizenship?


Citizenship is a legal status. If someone is a UK citizen they have the legal right to live in the country, as well as access to services such as welfare, education and healthcare. They can also vote.

Citizenship is also an identity, and often forms part of a person's sense of self and belonging.

Some people who are not citizens have the right to live in the UK permanently with the same rights - they are said to have settled status, or fixed leave to remain.

What's being proposed?


Under the new law, the Home Office would be given the power to remove someone's UK citizenship without having to tell them.

The government says it would only use this in "exceptional" circumstances, such as if someone was in a war zone, or in hiding and impossible to contact.

But campaigners say that the move would chip away at citizenship protections, and is likely to disproportionately target ethnic minorities.

In a recent video posted to Instagram, actor Riz Ahmed called the measure "crazy, wrong and... racist".

What is the current law?


At the moment, the home secretary can strip someone of their citizenship for the following reasons:

*  It is "for the public good" and would not make them stateless

*  The person obtained citizenship through fraud

*  That person's actions could harm UK interests and they could claim citizenship elsewhere

The Home Office needs to notify the person, who in turn has the right to appeal - although this can be a lengthy process.

The Home Office also needs to believe that the person is eligible to apply for citizenship in another country. The UK has responsibilities under international law to avoid leaving people stateless.

How many people have been stripped of their citizenship?


The total figures aren't readily available.

However the Home Office says between 2010 and 2018, an average of 19 people per year were stripped of their citizenship where it was "conducive to the public good", and an average of 17 people a year because of fraud.

The immigration law website Free Movement says their research reveals that more than 460 people had their citizenship removed between 2006 and 2020 - 175 for national security reasons, and 289 for fraud.

Who are those people?


The most high-profile recent case of someone having their citizenship removed was Shamima Begum, one of three east London schoolgirls who travelled to Syria in 2015 to support the Islamic State group (IS).

Ms Begum was born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi heritage and was 15 when she left.

In February 2020, a tribunal ruled that removing Ms Begum's citizenship was lawful because she was "a citizen of Bangladesh by descent", so removing her British nationality wouldn't make her stateless. Bangladesh said that was not the case and she would not be allowed into the country.

In February 2021, the Supreme Court decided that she wouldn't be allowed back into the UK to appeal against the decision.

Another person who had his citizenship deprived for national security reasons was Tauqir Sharif, an aid worker from Walthamstow. He moved to Syria in 2012 with his wife, and was stripped of his citizenship in 2017.

The Home Office said it believed Mr Sharif had links to a group aligned with al-Qaeda. He denied the claim, and called the system "unfair" and "racist".

What about other countries?


US-born citizens can't have their citizenship revoked because citizenship is a birth right guaranteed in the US constitution.

However, naturalised US citizens - that is, people who have immigrated to the US - can have their nationality stripped for a few reasons, including for being members of a proscribed group and for obtaining their US citizenship through fraud.

In Australia, a person can have their citizenship removed on national security grounds, if they are a dual citizen of another nation.

Citizenship can be removed for treason, disloyalty and other national security reasons in 14 EU states, including Greece, France and Romania.

In recent years, the UK has stripped more people of their citizenship than any other country apart from Bahrain, according to a report released by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion.


Anthony Loyd of the Times describes how he found Shamima Begum in a Syrian refugee camp


AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×