University of Bristol Law School Blog
A window into the legal research carried out at the Law School
Dr Rachel Pougnet, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol
Building bridges between academia and non-profit organisations through partnerships is a critical tool to protect the ‘right to have rights’. These formal collaborations build on shared expertise and co-produce knowledge which can help to identify risks of statelessness, better inform government policies and hold governments to account. (more…)
by Devyani Prabhat, Professor, Law School, University of Bristol
The Supreme Court has refused permission for Shamima Begum, who left the UK as a 15-year-old British schoolgirl for Syria in 2015, to come back to the UK so that she can effectively challenge the removal of her citizenship (decision dated 26th February 2021; [2021] UKSC 7). Begum was found in a camp in Syria two years back. The Home Secretary removed her British citizenship soon thereafter, arguing that she has eligibility for Bangladeshi citizenship, and would not be left stateless without British citizenship. (more…)
By Dr Rumyana van Ark (TCM Asser Institute and International Centre for Counter-Terrorism at ICCT –The Hague), Dr Faith Gordon Lecturer in Criminology (Monash University) and Dr Devyani Prabhat, Reader in Law (University of Bristol Law School).
Children are often the hidden victims in adult-dominated conflicts. This appears to be particularly the case when citizens of other states travel to an area of on-going conflict in order to participate and/or support a side in the conflict. As evidence relating to foreign fighters supportive of ISIS demonstrates, the decisions of the parents have significantly affected the position of their children who either travelled with them or were born there. Such children number in the many thousands. While the documented numbers are already high, commentators note that it is likely that these figures do not represent the full reality. The statistics may be omitting those children recently born in or currently residing in besieged, and almost impossible to access, areas. These estimated figures are also unlikely to include those who have not had their births properly recorded, those of whom the authorities have lost track, and those who were unknown to the authorities in the first instance. (more…)
By Dr Devyani Prabhat, Reader in Law (University of Bristol Law School)
Sajiv Javid’s decision to revoke the citizenship of Shamima Begum, the 19-year-old from Bethnal Green who left to join Islamic State in 2015, has been met with mixed reaction. While some supported the home secretary’s decision, others have expressed concern about its implications.
In these debates, there is much confusion about what cancellation of citizenship entails: whether this is just the cancellation of Begum’s passport, whether she is becoming stateless or whether she could be sent to Bangladesh because she comes from a family of Bangladeshi heritage.
In reality, cancellation of British citizenship means people can be left in limbo in war zones because they lose the right to re-enter the UK and to receive any diplomatic protection.
Begum’s case, while high profile, is not unique, and in 2017, there was a large spike in cases and the citizenship of 104 people was revoked on grounds where it was deemed “conducive to the public good”. (more…)