Lawyers condemn increased use of deprivation of citizenship orders, as eight people are served notices while out of the country
Eight people suspected of terrorist links have been banned from returning to Britain under deprivation of citizenship orders which have been described as far more draconian than control orders.
A freedom of information request by the Guardian revealed eight people have been issued with these orders and had their passports cancelled while out of the UK since 2007, the same number of people currently subject to control orders. Often the people were visiting family members abroad during the school holidays when the notices were served on them. This was followed within a day or two by a signed order and an exclusion order preventing them from returning to the UK.
The use of deprivation of citizenship orders has increased sharply in the last 12 months: of the eight orders since 2007 five were served last year.
Human rights lawyers said those on the receiving end had suffered injustice and that the orders were part of the "post-9/11 industry". While allegations of terrorist links might be justified, those served with these orders had difficulty defending themselves because they were banned from the UK without warning.
The Immigration Law Practitioners' Association has made a submission to the joint committee on human rights condemning the increased use of these orders. The ILPA states: "Rights under European Union law and the human rights that underpin them may be undermined in such cases." It adds that in at least one of these cases, attempts to communicate with lawyers in the UK from the country where the person is stranded is putting them at risk.
Amanda Weston, a barrister dealing with some of the cases, said: "You get to see very clearly the impact of injustice on the lives of those on the receiving end and their families. There is increasing use of secret evidence, and national security considerations are having an impact on procedural fairness.
"As things stand the brunt of that incursion is being shouldered by minority communities. Control orders are issued to people the government can't remove from the UK. Similarly, deprivation of citizenship orders are a way of making British citizens subject to immigration controls on very wide 'public good' grounds ? a far more draconian measure and a low-cost option for the secretary of state."
Derrick Agyeman, a security-cleared Metropolitan police employee who was born in Britain and is of African descent, had his passport confiscated by Dutch officials while on holiday in Amsterdam in 2006 because they thought he looked different to his passport photo. He was charged with using a false identity but the case was swiftly thrown out.
Although his employers vouched for him, the Foreign Office refused to return his passport. He was denied entry to the UK for three months and was allowed to return only when he lodged legal proceedings. The Home Office did not comment.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jan/27/british-terror-suspects-banned-return
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