SAHNI ARTICLE 3.3.21 (WORD) (DO NOT DELETE) Spring 2021 5/6/2021 7:21 PM Loss of Nationality Rights 137 reasons, the perspective of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in El Himri v. Ashcroft234 is inaccurate. In this case, the Court considered the asylum claim of Palestinian Applicants who had exited Kuwait.235 It viewed the Appellants as victims of persecution and economic discrimination. “The El Himris have carried their burden to show a “clear probability” that they would suffer economic persecution if they returned to Kuwait” and “Even if the El Himris were fortunate enough to avoid violent persecution upon their return to Kuwait, they would not be able to avoid the state-sponsored economic discrimination that has been enacted against Palestinians living in Kuwait since the end of the Gulf War.”236 The risks and effects of state sponsored economic discrimination would support grounds of persecution if the applicants were nationals of Kuwait and had the legal rights to reside in Kuwait continuously. However, like all foreign residents, the Applicants were not entitled to automatic and lifelong residence.237 The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal construed the issue more precisely in Thabet v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration)238 which dealt with a similar fact pattern. The Applicant was a stateless Palestinian who was born in Kuwait.239 He and his parents were asked to leave Kuwait after the Gulf War ended.240 In contrast to the El Himri Court, the Court of Appeal verified that the Applicants were not members of a persecuted minority that faced ongoing economic discrimination. “Frankly, since the Liberation of Kuwait and the normalization process, Palestinians from Kuwait have received extensions of their residence permit and are not being deported as they were at the conclusion of the Gulf War.”241 The Applicant could not return to Kuwait merely because he did not have a valid residence permit.242 Hence, refugee status in Canada was denied.243 2. When an Individual Loses Nationality Rights by His or Her Own Act This section analyses cases where an individual loses access to nationality rights as a direct cause of his or her deliberate or negligent act. The individual is then rendered stateless. In these situations, he is at fault. A State that withdraws citizenship that is procured by fraud or deception is not deemed to act arbitrarily under international law. That revocation does not 234. 235. 236. 237. 238. 239. 240. 241. 242. 243. El Himri v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 932, 937 (9th Cir. 2004). Id. at 934. Id. at 937. Ministerial Decree No. 15 of 1959, supra note 233. Thabet v. Canada, [1998] 4 F.C. 21 (C.A.), 48 Imm. L.R. (2d) 195 (F.C.A.). Id. at 1. Id. at 4. Id. at 15. Id. Id.