Germany could revoke the citizenship of “terror supporters, antisemites, and extremists” if they hold another nationality, new planning documents have revealed.
As DW explains, a paper that was intended as a basis for the coalition agreement of the new German government suggested so. With the headline “Citizenship law” the paper said that the authorities are committed to reforming the current citizenship law, Schengen.News reports.
We will examine under constitutional law whether we can revoke the German citizenship of terror supporters, antisemites, and extremists who call for the abolition of the free and democratic basic order, if they hold another nationality.
Currently, there are ongoing coalition negotiations between the conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
As revealed, the working group is working on dealing with integration and immigration issues. However, not everyone has been supporting the same ideas, leading to heated arguments.
Dirk Wiese, an SPD politician, who was involved in the working group focused on “Domestic Affairs, Law, Migration and Integration” promoted dual citizenship as a success for his party.
He said for DW that his party had ensured that the dual citizenship possibility remained in place. On the other hand, as Wiese explained, CDU/CSU had wanted to roll this possibility back.
Critics Say Withdrawal of Citizenship Due to Antisemitism Will Lead to Unequal Treatment
According to some Social Democrats, the proposal to revoke German citizenship due to antisemitism and extremism will lead to unequal treatment of those calling Germany their home.
A number of SPD politicians, including the mayor of Bremen Andreas Bovenschulte, raised concerns about the consideration of revoking citizenship for this group of dual nationals.
Speaking for German local media, he said that the message given to around five million people with dual citizenship living in Germany was a “big problem”. The same emphasised that dual nationals would get the impression that their citizenship is less important and that they do not really belong in Germany.
A dual national has also shared the same opinion with Bovenschulte. Speaking for DW, a dual national who was born in Berlin and is also a Palestinian said that the situation is very tense. The dual national also said that changes of this nature to the citizenship law could become unpleasant.
The situation is very tense. It could become unpleasant for people like me.
While there is a discussion about the possibility of revoking citizenship for dual citizens due to antisemitism and extremism, it is still not clear how it will be decided that someone is an antisemite or extremist.
In addition to Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark politicians have also called for tighter rules for those who commit anti-Semitic offences