A law to withdraw British citizenship a nightmare that haunts immigrants, even for those born in Britain

On the pretext of "public interest" and within the framework of the "anti-terrorism" project, the political and legislative circles in Britain have been discussing for some time, amid fears and intense controversy, a new bill that would allow the withdrawal of British citizenship from some people "without warning".

Although it is not new, the bill to deprive people of British citizenship, whose provisions were recently introduced with some amendments, has sparked widespread controversy in the United Kingdom. Where critics of the law believe that the abolition of the “notification of persons concerned with deprivation of nationality” clause will open the door wide to many abuses, and may allow many people to be stripped of their citizenship without a real reason, and thus expand the powers of the Ministry of Interior in this, to slip into racist or more aggressive and cruel practices , especially towards people with dual nationals, or Britons of immigrant background and other faiths regardless of whether they were even born in Britain.

The Conservative government in Britain is still seeking to pass this law, claiming to preserve national security and the public interest, and in the meantime, human rights campaigns are continuing to condemn this project, which contradicts international law that provides for citizenship rights.

"Nationality and Borders" a controversial draft law

Shortly after the British Supreme Court announced its decision to withdraw the citizenship of Shamima Begum, a young girl born in the United Kingdom, who left the country earlier to join the terrorist organization “ISIS” in Syria, the Home Secretary Priti Patel proposed an amendment to the “nationality” bill The controversial “border”, which is being discussed by the British Parliament, amid several human rights concerns.

Patel suggested repealing Section 9 of the bill entitled “Notification of the Decision to Revoke Nationality,” thereby relieving the government of the duty to inform the person concerned that his nationality may be withdrawn if “this is not possible.”

The Home Office issued an official statement after that, confirming that "the deprivation of citizenship on favorable grounds is a right that the authorities take against those who pose a threat to the United Kingdom or whose conduct is very harmful", adding that "British citizenship is a privilege, not a right."

The law of stripping citizenship dates back to 2005, after the famous London bombings, when the authorities gave the Ministry of the Interior the powers to strip people of British citizenship, to fight "terrorism" and maintain national security. And the use of the law expanded in the following years, while preserving the principle of sending notification to the persons concerned with the decision to withdraw citizenship, although this condition began to be weakened effectively since 2018.

Statistics and official sources indicate that with the increase in the number of Britons who joined the ranks of the terrorist organization ISIS, the British Home Office resorted to the law extensively, as it revoked citizenship from 21 people in 2018, 104 others in 2017, and about 23 people between 2014 and 2016.

Although the law appears to be combating terrorism, defending the interest and preserving national security, jurists fear any carrying within it the reality of racist abuses, which extend the hands of the authorities to strip citizenship without any reason from immigrants and citizens of different ethnicities.

Rights concerns

Human rights concerns have grown about the possibility of the British Conservative government succeeding in passing the “Nationality and Borders” bill, employing the security concern of the British, and exploiting the high level of hatred and racism in the British street, especially after the increase in the number of immigrants in recent years.

A heated political and legal debate arose over the various provisions of the law that could deprive any person of the British citizenship he holds, and deny him the right to know the charges against him, as well as the right to respond to these charges and to challenge the decision of the Ministry of the Interior.

Commenting on the project, Alexander Gillespie, an expert in international law at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, said: “International law provides for citizenship rights, and therefore governments do not have the right to retract them after convicting a person who has committed a serious crime such as terrorism, especially if he does not have a nationality. other".

"If governments really want to combat extremism, the best thing to do is bring these people home and get terrorist ideas out of their heads," Gillipsey stressed.

Frances Webber, Vice President of the Institute of Race Relations, said: “This amendment sends the message that some citizens, although born and raised in the United Kingdom and have no other home, remain immigrants in this country. Their citizenship, and thus all their rights, is conditional and fraught with danger. ".

"It builds on past measures to strip British-born dual nationals (mostly ethnic minorities) of their citizenship, and to do so while abroad, measures primarily used against British Muslims. It unapologetically violates international human rights covenants and basic standards of justice," she added.