{UAH} I will not leave Shamima Begum 'stateless', says home secretary

WBK,

Here is the UK Home Secretary Sayid Javid confirming that he is on solid legal grounds by revoking Shamima Begum's citizenship. As I have explained before, the Home Secretary has power to revoke citizenship on specified grounds- but he must satisfy himself that the citizen has got another citizenship or entitlement to another citizenship which they can apply for to avoid becoming stateless. International Law forbids states from making citizens stateless. Bangla Desh law bestows citizenship automatically on a child of a woman who hold Bangla Desh citizenship at the time of birth of the child- there is no need for a child to apply, but he or she is entitled to renounce the citizenship if she so wishes. Shamima Begum is therefore a Bengali citizen by virtue of her birth, although she claims she has never applied for a Bangla Desh passport and has not even stepped foot in the country. My own children have never set foot in Uganda, but they are Ugandan citizens. 

See what I wrote earlier:

Here is a brief analysis of the legal position regarding revocation of citizenship under current UK law. Please note that the starting point for any discussion of the right to nationality and citizenshIp is the International Law position. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness are the key international conventions addressing statelessness. They are complemented by international human rights treaties and provisions relevant to the right to a nationality. The Convention forbids states from making a citizen stateless.

In the case of Shamima Begum, The Home secretary cannot revoke her citizenship "if he is satisfied that the order would make a person stateless", but can do so if he has "reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able, under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, to become a national of such a country or territory".

Under Bangla Desh law, a child born to a mother who is a Bangla Deshi citizen acquires Bangla Deshi citizenship automatically by virtue of that birth, and need not apply for it specifically, although he or she can renounce it.

The UK Home Secretary Sayyid Javid would therefore have needed to be satisfied that Shamima Begum has Bangla Desh natiionality or could legitimately apply for it before revoking her UK citizenship.

Bobby

I will not leave Shamima Begum 'stateless', says home secretary

Bangladesh says the 19-year-old has never applied for dual nationality, and only became aware of the situation via the media.

Thursday 21 February 2019 09:25, UK

• SHAMIMA BEGUM

Image:Shamima Begum says revoking her citizenship is 'a bit unjust'

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Why you can trust Sky News 

IS bride Shamima Begum will not be left "stateless", the home secretary has said.

Speaking after he revoked her British citizenship, Sajid Javid said he would not take a decision that would leave an individual with nowhere to go.

Although he has not commented directly on the case, Mr Javid appeared to confirm earlier in the week the government felt able to take such action - which would prevent her from returning to the UK - because she is a dual national or has the right to citizenship elsewhere.

Under international law, revoking someone's citizenship is only permissible if it does not leave that person stateless.

Image:Sajid Javid has revoked Shamima Begum's British citizenship

It was speculated that Shamima Begum, 19, was a dual British-Bangladeshi national.

But Bangladesh said she had never applied for dual nationality, adding that it only became aware of the situation through the media.

The former Bethnal Green schoolgirl, who fled her London home at the age of 15 to join Islamic State in Syria, has said she wants to return to the UK to raise her baby, who she recently gave birth to in a Syrian refugee camp.

More from Shamima Begum

• Shamima Begum: 78% of Britons support revoking IS bride's UK citizenship - Sky Data poll

• Bangladesh says IS teen Shamima Begum not their citizen in dispute with UK government

• IS bride Shamima Begum 'shocked' at 'unjust' removal of citizenship

• Shamima Begum could be arrested on return to UK, says Met Police chief

• IS teen bride Shamima Begum warned of 'consequences' by Sajid Javid

• 'It's all a lie': British IS bride who escaped while pregnant speaks out

After being shown a copy of the Home Office letter, Shamima Begum described Mr Javid's decision to revoke her citizenship as "a bit unjust on me and my son".

She said she might try for citizenship in the Netherlands, where her husband is from.

"I'm not going to talk about an individual," Mr Javid told ITV's Peston, "but I can be clear on the point that I would not take a decision and I believe none of my predecessors ever have taken a decision that at the point the decision is taken would leave (an) individual stateless.

"I'm not aware of any home secretary in any party in any previous government that has taken a decision that would leave anyone stateless."

The vast majority of the British public support his decision, according to a Sky Data poll.

Earlier, Mr Javid told the Commons that the rights of Shamima Begum's son were unaffected by his mother's loss of citizenship, saying that "children should not suffer".

"So, if a parent does lose their British citizenship, it does not affect the rights of their child," he said.

IS bride full interview: I was okay with beheadings

Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs, Shahriar Alam, tweeted that Shamima Begum was a "British citizen by birth and has never applied for dual nationality with Bangladesh".

He added that she had "never visited Bangladesh in the past despite her parental lineage".

There was "no question of her being allowed to enter into Bangladesh", he said.

The Begum family lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said Shamima Begum was born in the UK, had never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen, adding that whether she had been left stateless was "certainly something we will be adding to the mix in terms of our appeal".

Decisions taken to deprive someone of their citizenship are "based on all available evidence and not taken lightly", a Home Office spokesman said.

The British Nationality Act 1981 allows someone's citizenship to be removed if it is "conducive to the public good".

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