Deprivation of British citizenship and withdrawal of passports Deprivation of citizenship for fraud, 2012-2022 Year Number of orders 2012 1 2013 7 2014 11 2015 15 2016 24 2017 44 2018 50 2019 82 2020 43 2021 273 2022 308 Source: Home Office, Immigration and protection data: Q3 2024, table RCM_01 Deprivation for the public good From 2010 to 2023, there were 222 deprivation orders on the ground that it was conducive to the public good. Almost half (104 orders) were in 2017. The threat from so-called Islamic State, in particular, has receded since then. 32 The Institute of Race Relations records five deprivations or attempted deprivations before 2010, beginning with controversial imam Abu Hamza in 2003. 33 This is consistent with Home Office data showing four orders from 2006 to 2009 (assuming all four were ‘public good’ cases). 34 The Abu Hamza case is not recorded as a deprivation order because, at the time, no final order could be made until after any appeal was determined. 35 Before Abu Hamza, there had been no deprivation of citizenship for 30 years. A government white paper published in 2002 stated “the last time someone was derived of British citizenship was in 1973”. 36 32 33 34 35 36 11 See Commons Library briefing CBP-8248, ISIS/Daesh: what now for the military campaign in Iraq and Syria?, 10 July 2018 Institute of Race Relations, Citizenship: from right to privilege, 11 September 2022, p8; “Cleric stripped of citizenship”, BBC News, 5 April 2003 PQ 15275 [on British Nationality], answered on 19 November 2015 Hamza v Secretary of State for the Home Department SC/23/2010, 5 November 2010, paragraph 2. As Abu Hamza ultimately won his appeal, no deprivation order would ever have been made. Home Office, Secure Borders, Safe Haven – Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain, Cm 5387, 7 February 2002, p35 Commons Library Research Briefing, 18 December 2024