Another authoritarian nail in the coffin of western democracy is being hammered into place with the new bill in the UK which effectively turns citizenship into a privilege.
The Home Office said: “British citizenship is a privilege, not a right. Deprivation of citizenship on conducive grounds is rightly reserved for those who pose a threat to the UK or whose conduct involves very high harm. The nationality and borders bill will amend the law so citizenship can be deprived where it is not practicable to give notice, for example if there is no way of communicating with the person.”
Is that not an absurd thing to hear from a western country? Citizenship as a privilege which can be revoked. That’s something that should send some chills down your spine. The craziest part is the government doesn’t even have to inform you if it’s not practical? Despite being born and raised in the UK, you could end up having your citizenship revoked.
The BBC article also notes that citizenship can already be removed “in 14 EU states, including Greece, France and Romania. It can also be removed without notice in the Netherlands.” While natural born US-citizens can’t yet have their citizenship revoked, naturalized US citizens can.
This seems to be a trend in many western countries. If your own country can revoke your citizenship and not even tell you, what kind of situation would that put you in? You could be deported from your own country and then have no way to return to appeal. This has become very real already in the UK which has stripped more people of their citizenship than any other country except Bahrain.
Combine this with the UK’s recent decision to deport individuals regardless of nationality to Rwanda and things get even scarier. If you don’t have a second citizenship and you find yourself in this situation you are completely fucked. You’re effectively a stateless person trapped in a foreign country in the southern part of Africa.
This is precisely why many in the expat community have begun to ask “Where Can You Be in 72 Hours?” Now more than ever, it is important to set yourself up with a backup plan. As more and more of these draconian laws become reality, the likelihood of it directly affecting you or someone in your family becomes increasingly common. If you have the ability to start making a plan B, you should.