New laws being debated in parliament will allow government to strip Britons holding dual citizenship as part of government’s new anti-terrorism drive.
LONDON: New laws currently being debated in parliament will allow the government to strip Britons holding dual citizenship of their British citizenship as part of the government's new anti-terrorism drive. The home secretary would be able to strip dual nationals of their British citizenship as easily as he can remove or exclude foreign nationals from this country under the new legislation.
The new laws may impact members of the British Indian community as the Indian government recently allowed foreign nationals of Indian origin to hold Indian citizenship. Even Britons born in the UK would be covered by the powers, included in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill as part of the government's anti-terrorism drive.
These clauses have received less public attention compared to the provisions of the Terrorism Bill, which is also being debated in parliament. The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill will receive its second reading in the House of Lords next Tuesday.
The Guardian reported Friday that until now the home secretary was only able to act if the British citizenship of dual nationals is "seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK": for instance, if they are spies.
Under the proposed laws, he could deprive them of citizenship and the right of abode if it would be "conducive to the public good".
"Recent developments in London have caused a rethink. The government believes the (existing) test is too restrictive," said a Home Office spokesman. However, the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association has said there is no established principle in international law for a country expelling its own nationals. Alison Harvey, the ILPA's legal officer, told the newspaper: "You could have your British nationality taken away from you even if your other one was meaningless to you."
Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, who opposed the change, said: "It is hypocritical for the government to say that people should respect the duties of citizenship and then remove it on such a low test. This is almost certainly in breach of human rights and will not be perceived well in ethnic minority communities, where it is most likely to apply."
Keith Vaz, former Labour minister, told the newspaper that the bill was controversial and had not received enough parliamentary scrutiny.
British nationality
When the British Nationality Act 1948 came into effect on January 1, 1949, citizens of the United Kingdom and colonies who subsequently became naturalised citizens of other countries no longer automatically lost their British nationality.
Unless, of course, they made a formal declaration of renunciation. With the enactment of British Nationality Act, 1981, which came into effect on January 1, 1983, the provisions for the recognition of dual nationality and the procedure for renunciation of citizenship were retained.
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