When: Monday, March 30, 2020, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PMWhere: Peston Lecture Theatre - Graduate Centre Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS, Mile End Road
Revocation of Citizenship: Necessary for Security or Harmful Strategy?
The political anxiety over ‘foreign fighters’ and their potential return has revived the debate about the revocation of citizenship , putting it back on the political and judicial agendas.
The ongoing case of Shamima Begum, who had her citizenship revoked by the British government in 2019 despite not having any other form of citizenship, demonstrates that the stakes are high. Revocation of citizenship is often presented as an exceptional response to new security threats. However, a study of its history reveals that this practice has existed in Britain for over one hundred years, and it is deeply embedded within the politics of citizenship.
This panel will debate citizenship revocation from a historical and transversal perspective. Taking different points in history and present day, it will explore the access and denial of citizenship rights, critically engaging with questions of belonging, inclusion and exclusion.
Confirmed speakers
Tasnime Akunjee - Criminal defence solicitor (Farooq Bajwa & Co) and Begum family lawyer.
Dr Marie Beauchamps - Marie-Sklodowska Curie postdoc fellow working on the genealogies of citizenship deprivation in France and the UK (QMUL) .
Deirdre Troy - PhD candidate working on the genealogy of British citizenship (QMUL).
Colin Yeo - Barrister, writer, campaigner and consultant specialising in immigration law (Garden Court Chambers).