Children at Risk of Statelessness in the Fight against Terrorism
22 in the Netherlands from 2017 to mid-2021;7 at least 21 in Belgium from 2009
to January 2020;8 17 in Australia from 2015 to mid-2019;9 16 in France from 2002
to October 2019;10 nine in Austria between 2017 and mid-2021;11 and at least 13
in Denmark between 2016 and 2021.12 Considering that this counter-terrorism
method risks potentially creating statelessness for the concerned FTFs, this
inevitably also affects the legal status of their minor children, who might end up
stateless in a conflict zone.
Stateless children are already one of the most vulnerable groups but become
even more so if they are trapped in situations of armed conflict. Children affected
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9
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11
12
Decisions of K1-35772087474, K1-2786497685, K1-35603812755 and K1-35536731957,
‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (13 September 2017) Staatscourant No 5244 (the
Netherlands); Decision of K1-48233579119, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (11 July
2018) Staatscourant No 39597 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-48233579119, ‘Withdrawal
of Dutch Citizenship’ (7 November 2018) Staatscourant No 63407 (the Netherlands);
Decision of K1-48246388487, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (21 January 2019)
Staatscourant No 3532 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-2830921892, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch
Citizenship’ (27 February 2019) Staatscourant No 11642 (the Netherlands); Decision of K170787658859, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (17 April 2019) Staatscourant No 22177
(the Netherlands); Decision of K1-72370525831, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (13 May
2019) Staatscourant No 27574 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-77203137030, ‘Withdrawal
of Dutch Citizenship’ (10 September 2019) Staatscourant No 50454 (the Netherlands);
Decision of K1-55061891549, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (23 September 2019)
Staatscourant No 52809 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-55061891548, ‘Withdrawal of
Dutch Citizenship’ (31 October 2019) Staatscourant No 60309 (the Netherlands); Decision of
K1-73609514694, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (4 December 2019) Staatscourant No
67223 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-2787913283, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (13
December 2019) Staatscourant No 67227, (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-2787913283,
‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (13 December 2019) Staatscourant No 69330 (the
Netherlands); Decision of K1-89234841187, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (21 January
2020) Staatscourant No 4746 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-882219203, ‘Withdrawal of
Dutch Citizenship’ (24 January 2020) Staatscourant No 5678 (the Netherlands); Decision of
K1-1613462860, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (28 January 2020) Staatscourant No
6215 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-1096996460, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (6
May 2020) Staatscourant No 25604 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-2641193062,
‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (16 June 2020) Staatscourant No 32757 (the Netherlands);
Decision of K1-42499828897, ‘Withdrawal of Dutch Citizenship’ (27 July 2020)
Staatscourant No 40542 (the Netherlands); Decision of K1-1622786811, ‘Withdrawal of
Dutch Citizenship’ (3 September 2020) Staatscourant No 46489 (the Netherlands).
Maarten P Bolhuis and Joris van Wijk, ‘Citizenship Deprivation as a Counterterrorism
Measure in Europe: Possible Follow-Up Scenarios, Human Rights Infringements and the
Effect on Counterterrorism’ (2020) 22(3) European Journal of Migration and Law 338, 342.
Ben Doherty, ‘Stripping People of Citizenship Makes the World Less Safe, Not More’, The
Guardian (online, 13 October 2019) <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/
2019/oct/12/stripping-people-of-citizenship-makes-the-world-less-safe-not-more>.
Matthieu Mondoloni, ‘La France a procédé à sa seizième déchéance de nationalité en dix-sept
ans’, france,info (online, 25 October 2019) <https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/terrorismedjihadistes/la-france-a-procede-a-sa-seizieme-decheance-de-nationalite-en-17ans_3673879.html>.
Bernhard Ichner, ‘IS-Mann muss österreichischen Pass abgeben’, Kurier (online, 27 March
2017) <https://kurier.at/chronik/wien/is-mann-muss-oesterreichischen-pass-abgeben/254.487.417>;|
‘Wiener IS-Kämpfer verliert österreichische Staatsbürgerschaft’ Die Presse (online, 5
December 2019) <https://www.diepresse.com/5733680/wiener-is-kampfer-verliert-osterreichischestaatsburgerschaft>; ‘Debatte über Staatsbürgerschafts-Aberkennung’, ORF Wien (online, 5
November 2020) <https://wien.orf.at/stories/3074338/>; ‘Neun IS-Kämpfer verloren
Staatsbürgerschaft’, ORF Wien (online, 10 June 2021) <https://wien.orf.at/stories/3107549/>.
‘Denmark Strips Man of Citizenship After Terrorism Conviction’, Reuters (Web Page, 8 June
2016) <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-denmark-citizenship-idUSKCN0YU1G5?il=0>;
Mehmet Ümit Necef, ‘Categorizing Islamic State Supporters in Denmark: The Cases of Enes
Ciftci and Natascha Colding-Olsen’ (Research Paper, Center for Mellemøststudier, June
2017) <https://www.sdu.dk/-/media/files/om_sdu/centre/c_mellemoest/videncenter/artikler/
2017/necef+article+june+2017.pdf>; ‘Freedom in the World 2022: Denmark’, Freedom House
(Web Page, 2022) <https://freedomhouse.org/country/denmark/freedom-world/2022>.
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