Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Exile, terrorism and statelessness

http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2014/01/30/amendment-to-immigration-bill-allows-home-secretary-to-make-people-stateless/

Many articles have come out in the past week about the UK's amendment to its immigration bill. The bill allows the Home Secretary to deprive people of their citizenship for conducting themselves in a manner "prejudicial to the vital interests" of the UK, according to the article in Freemovement.org.uk above.

The point of this bill is to assist the UK government to exile terrorists and suspected terrorists. It harks back to earlier days in Europe, when banishment was a common punishment for treason and other crimes against the crown.

Salmone Rushdie said "the exile is a ball hurled high into the air." But where does the ball land? It's not clear what purpose would be served by the de-nationalization of terror suspects in the UK. It does not seem likely to dissuade perspective British terrorists. If Britain intends to expel them to another country, it will likely find this impossible. It does not seem possible for a nation to disinherit one if its own, no matter how unsavory that person may be.

**Update: The House of Lords discusses the issue this week.

No comments:

Post a Comment