NO LONGER BRITISH
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BEING STRIPPED OF THEIR BRITISH CITIZENSHIP HAS GONE THROUGH THE ROOF IN RECENT YEARS
THE number of people who have had their British citizenship stripped from them has rocketed since 2010. An average of six people a year had their British nationality revoked between 2010 and 2014 by the then Home Secretary Theresa May.
The figures, from government transparency reports, reveal that four people also had their citizenship stripped in 2014.
That rose to five in 2015, and almost tripled to 14 in 2016 the year that Amber Rudd took over from Theresa May as Home Secretary.
However, the largest jump in depriving people of their British citizenship came in 2017 - Amber Rudd’s first full year as Home Secretary, and the year Theresa May became Prime Minister.
That year, 104 people had their UK citizenship revoked.
The Home Secretary personally decides whether someone should be deprived of their British identity.
The once-extraordinary step is made if they believe it is “conducive to the public good”.
Figures for Sajid Javid’s time as Home Secretary are yet to be published.
The current Home Secretary made headlines last month when he controversially deprived former ISIS wife Shamima Begum of her citizenship.
The government can only strip a non naturalised (British-born) person of their citizenship if they wouldn’t be made stateless by the action.
However, Begum isn’t a naturalised citizen, and doesn’ t hold dual nationality.
The government has used the fact that Begum could apply for a Bangladeshi passport to justify revoking her UK citizenship.
Gracie Bradley, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Liberty, said: “The recent sharp rise in the use of executive citizenship-stripping powers is part of a longer, deeply worrying trend dating back to 2002.
“Using the immigration system in place of the domestic criminal law is irresponsible and undermines basic principles of justice, especially as British citizens who are not dual nationals cannot be subjected to this medieval and counter-productive approach.”
Baroness Williams, Minister of State for the Home Department, wrote in a parliamentary answer that “Decisions to deprive can be made on conducive grounds where individuals pose a threat to national security, have been involved in war crimes, serious and organised crime, or demonstrated unacceptable behaviours such as extremism, fomenting hatred, or glorifying terrorist violence.
“Decisions to deprive are compatible with the UK’s international obligations under the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
“The threshold for such decisions is high and the power is used sparingly.
“All decisions include an assessment of whether it is reasonable and proportionate to deprive to protect the fundamental interests of society.”