Since 2006 the British Government has stripped 42 people of citizenship, 20 of them in 2013.
Due process is not required; the Home Secretary need find only that depriving someone of citizenship would be “conducive to the public good”.
Even if they are born in Britain, most of those so treated have dual nationality and, typically, are living outside the country when the process takes place.
Britain, along with Israel, is one of the few countries with such legal powers. Attempts to install a similar system in the USA have failed.
A bill to provide for deprivation of an individual’s citizenship is now before the Canadian Parliament. Australia and the Netherlands are considering drafting legislation.
Source: New York Times, 10th April 2014.