Joint Letter by Exiled Britons: Law allows Government to be judge, jury and executioner

<strong>This letter was reported on <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nationality-borders-bill-uk-citizenship-b1989938.html">exclusively by the Independent</a> as part of a story alongside CAGE. We publish it in full here:</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the undersigned, have all been stripped of our British citizenship and exiled by different Home Secretaries over the past decade. While we are now stranded in countries across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, we all were born as British citizens and raised in the UK.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The government has deprived every one of us of our citizenship on the basis that we are technically dual nationals on account of our parental heritage., cementing a two tier citizenship for people like us.. We have no identity or travel documents, no consular assistance and do not enjoy the support or protection of any country in the world. We are essentially stateless. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">In practice, this means that some of us have suffered detention, imprisonment, and torture with complete impunity. Shockingly, some who have been deprived have been summarily executed without any accountability. Our children are also denied citizenship and passports and are collectively punished alongside us. We live a shadow existence.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The most difficult part of this process is not knowing what we are accused of or being shown the evidence against us. If we, or anyone else for that matter, has committed a crime, we simply ask for our day in court where we are given the opportunity to challenge the evidence against us. The current policy of using ‘secret evidence’ and ‘secret courts’ equips the government and the security services to operate as judge, jury and, in some cases, executioner against us.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We are overwhelmed by the growing numbers of the British public campaigning against the Nationality and Borders Bill (NABB). Clause 9 of the Bill will allow the Home Secretary to deprive someone of their citizenship without notification. As targets of these powers, everyone must understand that the struggle against citizenship deprivation is far greater than just this clause. It is imperative to continue to push for a full roll-back of the racist and wholly unaccountable deprivation regime under which hundreds of British citizens have already lost their citizenship. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Power must always be under the law not above it. </span> &nbsp; <strong>Signatories:</strong> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Deniz Solak</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sally Lane (mother of Jack Letts)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tauqir ‘Tox’ Sharif</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nabeel Sheikh</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Safian Khan</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">E3</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">K3</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">N3</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R3</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Y1</span></li> </ol>