Denaturalization
Denaturalization is the loss of citizenship against the will of the person concerned. Denaturalization is often applied to ethnic minorities and political dissidents. Denaturalization can be a penalty for actions considered criminal by the state, often only for errors in the naturalization process such as fraud. Since the 9/11 attacks, the denaturalization of people accused of terrorism has increased. Because of the right to nationality, recognized by multiple international treaties including Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, denaturalization is often considered a human rights violation.
Definition
Denaturalization is the case in which citizenship or nationality is revoked by the state against the wishes of the citizen. In practice, there may not be a clear-cut distinction between non-consensual revocation and renunciation of citizenship. Some sources distinguish denaturalization – the reversal of naturalization – from denationalization, the revocation of citizenship more generally.History
Denaturalization can be considered a new form of the ancient custom of banishment, which decreased in use after the establishment of prisons and the reduction in territory considered terra nullius. The British practice of penal transportation led to 380,000 people being sent into exile in other parts of the empire through the mid-nineteenth century. The modern practice of denaturalization developed in the late nineteenth century at the same time as immigration controls. Following the growth of the welfare state, emigration and denaturalization were legalized by many countries for pragmatic reasons in order to avoid having to support poor returnees. The German Empire denaturalized all emigrants who had been abroad for ten years to avoid the return of unsuccessful emigrants. Naturalized citizens who returned to their country of origin also faced loss of their new nationality as they were considered to have cut their ties with that country. In Canadian nationality law, this practice continued until 1974. French law allowed for denaturalization since the late nineteenth century but was rarely used before World War I.According to the modern state system, states have a duty to admit their own nationals and may expel non-nationals. Throughout much of the Western world, denaturalization laws were passed in the early twentieth century, including the Naturalization Act of 1906 in the United States, French laws in 1915 and 1927, and the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act in 1914 and 1918. World War I enhanced scrutiny of the loyalty of naturalized citizens, leading to an increase in denaturalization; nearly all belligerents used denaturalization. In many cases, political dissidence or suspected sympathy with an enemy country was the reason for denaturalization, although in practice denaturalization primarily targeted people based on their birthplace. Denationalization laws adopted as an emergency measure during the war persisted afterwards.
The height of denaturalization was in the first half of the twentieth century. Sociologist David Scott FitzGerald states, "Racialized denationalizations accompanied expulsions and population transfers on a massive scale following the remaking of nation-states around the two world wars." Two million former citizens of the Russian Empire, the "white émigrés", were denaturalized and made stateless by the Soviet Union in 1921. In the Western world, denaturalization virtually disappeared after World War II. Attempts to denaturalize Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians en masse in the aftermath of the war failed due to unfavorable court rulings and changes in public opinion. Court rulings in France and the United States limited the discretionary power of denaturalization. One argument advanced for the decrease in denaturalization is the increase in human rights norms and growing legal protection against statelessness. The United Kingdom, which has a high rate of denaturalization in the twenty-first century, did not denaturalize anyone between 1973 and 2002. In 2002, it changed the laws so that the Home Secretary could denaturalize individuals without passing through an independent review process prior to the denaturalization taking effect. After the law was changed, there was a surge in the number of denaturalizations.
The September 11 attacks brought on a heightened fear of terrorism; governments tried to reduce any legal obstacles to the unlimited exercise of executive power deemed necessary to combat the terrorist threat. Immigration law was seen as a powerful tool to exclude those people deemed threats to national security, but it could only be wielded against non-citizens. Hence, the introduction or expansion of denaturalization. The countries that introduced, expanded, revived, or considered denaturalization laws include Canada, France, Austria, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Egypt, and the Gulf States.
In democratic states, denaturalization has generally been rare when comparing the number of naturalizations to the number of citizens.
Consequences
Denaturalization does not necessarily result in an individual losing the right of legal residence in the country that revokes their citizenship, but it often does. Denaturalized people are often forced to return to countries with which they have few ties with far-reaching consequences for their family, professional, and social life and well-being. Deportation of denaturalized citizens may require lengthy legal proceedings depending on the case, and the country that they would be deported to may refuse to accept them, for example if it does not recognize them as a citizen. Denaturalization of a person who is abroad usually prevents them from returning to the country. When applied to entire ethnic groups, denaturalization is often used as part of an attempt to encourage people to leave the country. In the past, statelessness was mostly caused by denaturalization.It is disputed whether denaturalization is, in effect, a penal sanction, non-penal national security measure, or something else. Although the majority view is to view denaturalization as punishment, criminologist Milena Tripkovic argues that denaturalization is "a sui generis sanction, which seeks to relieve the polity of those members who fail to satisfy fundamental citizenship requirements".
De facto denaturalization is effective loss of citizenship in the absence of a formal withdrawal. An example is temporary exclusion orders that some countries issue in order to bar their own nationals from entry, or passport revocation that is used to the same effect. Hundreds of citizens of various European countries, as of 2021, are stranded in the Middle East because their government refuses to repatriate them in the absence of formal denaturalization. Alternately, some countries have effectively abdicated responsibility for their citizens held in indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay. In many African countries and elsewhere, including the Dominican Republic and Texas, officials deliberately deny the required documentation to people entitled to citizenship, which can have similar consequences as denaturalization. Other children are not registered at birth for logistical reasons.
Targets of denaturalization
Fraud
Many countries allow denaturalization in cases where an applicant for citizenship committed fraud during the naturalization process. According to legal scholar Audrey Macklin, "The logic of citizenship revocation for fraud or misrepresentation is that it unwinds the effect of the misleading conduct and restores the situation that would have been obtained had the truth been disclosed." Denaturalization for fraud is the least controversial form of denaturalization, even when it results in statelessness. Cases of denaturalization of naturalized Americans and Canadians who had committed war crimes during World War II and lied on their applications for naturalization attracted widespread media attention, but were relatively rare.Kuwait has denaturalized around 3 per cent of the entire population, which is claimed to revert previous naturalization.
Multiple citizenship
Some countries forbid their nationals from holding multiple citizenship, so if a person acquires citizenship of a different country, they are automatically denaturalized.Loss of ties
, more than a dozen European Union countries provide for denaturalization if a citizen resides abroad for an extended period. Some countries provide for the automatic loss of nationality if a person joins a foreign military or civil service or holds public office in a different country.Until 1918, most countries denaturalized women who married foreigners. In the decade after World War I, eighteen countries ended the mandatory loss of citizenship for married women. Some countries continue to denaturalize women who marry foreigners, which in some cases can result in statelessness.
Similarly, Canada denaturalizes those born abroad to Canadian parents after the age of 28. Before they turn 28, persons born outside of Canada can reaffirm their citizenship to prevent denaturalization. This provision is little-known, however, leading to many "Lost Canadians," including persons residing in Canada, who lose their citizenship. These individuals also cannot pass on their citizenship to their children, which can result in statelessness at birth.