“The German government plans to introduce legislation that will enable authorities to strip Germans with dual nationality of their German citizenship if they fight for a terror group abroad.”
The previous Conservative government of Canada introduced such a law, in a demonstration of responsible governance.
The law stipulated that “Those convicted of crimes against the national interest such as terrorism, treason or spying and who have dual citizenship could have their citizenship revoked if they are dual nationals.”
When the Trudeau government was elected, it revoked that law. Jihadist Zakaria Amara, who had been stripped of Canadian citizenship, had his Canadian citizenship restored. Amara is believed to be the ringleader of the infamous Toronto 18.
Immigration Minister John McCallum defended Amara on the grounds that “Canadian citizens are equal under the law whether they were born in Canada or were naturalized in Canada or hold dual citizenship.” That includes jihadists who view Canada as the enemy, jihadists who are war with Canada and other infidel states. McCallum and the Trudeau government put patriotic citizens and assimilated immigrants on the same level as jihadists who seek to murder Canadians.
The law to be introduced in Germany “comes as Germany and other European countries consider what to do about citizens who fought for the Islamic State group and were captured in Syria.”
The announcement of this legislation leads to the question of whether it is sincere or politically driven, given conflicts in Germany between populists and globalists. This is particularly true in light of the fact that there is an already existing German law which allows “for people with dual citizenship to be stripped of their German nationality if they volunteer for their other country’s armed forces without the consent of German authorities.”
On the other hand, it brings to the forefront the need to keep jihadists out of Western nations, for the sake of national security.
“Germany to strip future terror group fighters of citizenship”, by Geir Moulson, Associated Press, February 4, 2019:
BERLIN (AP) — The German government plans to introduce legislation that will enable authorities to strip Germans with dual nationality of their German citizenship if they fight for a terror group abroad, officials said Monday.
The new rule will apply to people over 18 and, for reasons of constitutional law, only to future cases, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Eleonore Petermann said.
The move comes as Germany and other European countries consider what to do about citizens who fought for the Islamic State group and were captured in Syria. But the fact that the legislation can’t be applied retroactively means the proposal is unlikely to ease the German government’s dilemma on how to handle former jihadi fighters, amid worries about whether they pose a security risk and whether prosecutors can build cases against them.
The government hopes the legislation will have a “preventive effect” and discourage citizens from joining terror groups. Officials said the legislation will be drawn up soon but didn’t offer a precise timetable.
German law already allows for people with dual citizenship to be stripped of their German nationality if they volunteer for their other country’s armed forces without the consent of German authorities.
Other countries have made similar moves. Neighboring France has had a process since the 1990s for stripping French citizenship from dual nationals who carry out acts of terrorism, though it has rarely been used.
Germany’s governing coalition pledged when it took office a year ago to come up with tougher citizenship rules for extremist group fighters, but took until now to agree on details.
Bernd Baumann, a top lawmaker with the opposition far-right Alternative for Germany party, said the proposed legislation came “much too late” and wouldn’t help with IS fighters returning from Syria and Iraq…..