GRADE – B3
The Weaponisation of Citizenship Regarding its Revocation for
Dual Nationals
14749 words
Presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
M.Sc. in Human Rights and International Politics
University of Glasgow
September 2019
,Contents
Introduction 1
UK Acts of Parliament 6
The Justification for Citizenship Revocation and Opposing Arguments 10
How Did Citizenship Revocation Become Acceptable? 15
“British Values” 15
The Securitisation and Weaponisation of Citizenship 18
Human Rights Regardless of Status 21
The Arbitrary Nature of Revocation 23
Statelessness 26
Inequality of Citizenship 29
The Windrush Crisis - Bureaucratic Mistake? 31
Racism at the Border Articulates Racism Within 37
The Contingency of British Muslim’s Citizenship 42
Conclusion 55
Bibliography 59
,Abstract
Since 2002, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom has been given increased power
to revoke the citizenship of dual-nationals and those who the Home Secretary believes
can likely gain citizenship elsewhere, effectively leaving the individual stateless. This
dissertation aims to analyse the long-term consequences of these powers as it is
predominantly used against Muslims or those from Muslim-majority countries.
Citizenship revocation has been used as a consequence for behaviour not in line with
“accepted values”, it was the aim of this dissertation to reflect what these values are,
whether they are inherently racialised and what consequences this has for the Muslim
community. It found the practice is a form of racialised discrimination and works to
further alienate and “other” this community from the wider UK society. It also aims to
analyse the government policy behind the increasing discretion with which citizenship
can now be revoked as well as the policies contributing to the marginalisation of the
Muslim community. The comments and opinions of prominent columnists and media
sources on the Windrush Crisis, the deportation of those with leave to remain who then
commit a crime and the citizenship revocation of those suspected of terror offenses were
used to reflect and inform the wider argument and evidence the potential long-term
effects.
, Introduction
Citizenship is a protected legal status giving individuals the right to live in a particular
country, to enter that country freely and to be provided with the security of knowing they
will not be deported from it (Anderson, 2011). In particular, the right of the individual to
enter a country and remain free from the threat of deportation has been identified as one
of the key components of citizenship (Forcese, 2014; Macklin, 2014a; Thwaites, 2014;
Barry and Ferracioli, 2016). Furthermore, it is often a precondition for other rights such
as the right to basic welfare, to healthcare as well as to education, rights that are usually
reserved for citizens only. However, more than this, citizenship provides a sense of
subjective identity, an insight into who an individual is. It provides an indication to their
social relations, their sense of belonging and can determine whether they are treated as an
insider or an outsider (Anderson, 2011; Forcese, 2014). There are a variety of factors that
create the notion of ‘national identity’. Some are cultural such as food, art and humour.
Others are ethnic or religious and some factors are the product of government policy. But
government policy can isolate, rather than integrate, new citizens. Even in the UK, often
regarded as one of the most successful multicultural democracies on earth (Heath, 2012),
there are marked differences between dual citizens and mono citizens. Dual citizens can
potentially enjoy a range of benefits that mono-citizens do not, including the right to live
and work in more than one country outwith the EU, greater ease of travel across borders
and the opportunity to enjoy the entitlements offered by more than one state (Gibney,
2019). On the other hand, they may have to pay taxes in more than one country or they
may be bound by mandatory military service in one of their countries of citizenship. Most
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