The UK’s citizenship stripping laws are dangerous, extreme, executive powers. Our research with the Runnymede Trust found up to nine million people in the UK are at risk. Once stripped, the impact is catastrophic – the reasons why withheld, and the options to fight it impossibly limited.
Reprieve worked with freelance journalist Samira Shackle on a long read for Prospect Magazine about the stunning cruelty of these laws and just how hard it is to fight them. For the piece, Samira interviewed family members of people who have been stripped of citizenship, as well as Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, and our Chief Executive, Maya Foa.
Speaking to the extremity of the powers, Maya said: “It’s one of the worst sentences Britain can impose. We don’t have the death penalty but we can strip people of citizenship, which essentially deprives you of all your rights. And instead of going through a trial with a judge and jury, where you can defend yourself and put evidence forward, it’s a home secretary writing it down on the basis of a totally vague standard. That’s it. That’s the conviction.”
Read the full piece on Prospect.
