MILLIONS OF BRITISH MUSLIMS COULD BE STRIPPED OF THEIR NATIONALITY, REPORT WARNS

Sat 13 December 2025:

A report by the Runnymede Trust and Reprieve has revealed that nine million people in the UK could be stripped of their British citizenship under existing laws, with around two million Muslims facing disproportionately higher risks.

The analysis by the humanitarian and advocacy organisations underscores how these powers, often applied to Muslim individuals with ties to South Asia, the Middle East or North Africa, create a “fundamentally racist, two-tier citizenship regime” that threatens the security and rights of British Muslims in particular.

The report, Stripped: The Citizenship Divide, states: “New research from the Runnymede Trust and Reprieve, which analyses the most recent census and population demographic data and government policy, has found that 9 million people in the UK could be stripped of their British citizenship – 3 million more than were previously estimated to be at risk.”

It emphasises that “People of colour are 12 times more likely to be at risk than their white counterparts,” with “around 13% of the UK’s population could be stripped of their citizenship, including 3 in 5 people of colour, compared with just 1 in 20 of their white neighbours.”

This disparity hits British Muslim communities hardest, as the report explicitly notes: “The vast majority of those deprived are Muslim people with South Asian, Middle Eastern or North African heritage.”

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Millions of British Muslims vulnerable

With approximately 3.9 million Muslims in England and Wales according to the 2021 census— comprising 6.5% of the population — and a significant portion from ethnic groups identified as high-risk, the findings suggest that millions of British Muslims could be vulnerable.

Breaking down the at-risk populations by ethnicity, the report finds: “62% of Black British people (1.6 million), 62% of people of ‘Other’ ethnicity (0.7 million) and 60% of Asian British people (3.3 million) could risk being deprived of their citizenship, compared with just 5% of White British people (2.4 million).”

Given that around 66% of British Muslims identify as Asian (primarily Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian), 11% as Black, 7% as Arab, and smaller proportions as Mixed or Other, a substantial share of the 3.3 million at-risk Asian British and 1.6 million at-risk Black British individuals are Muslim.

This translates to potentially over 2 million British Muslims facing the threat, based on demographic overlaps from the census.

The largest at-risk groups include those with connections to countries with significant Muslim populations.

“The largest groups of people eligible for deprivation of citizenship are those connected to India (984,000 people) and Pakistan (679,000 people).” Pakistan-connected individuals are overwhelmingly Muslim, while a portion of India-connected are Indian Muslims.

Other groups like those linked to Jamaica (379,000) include Black Caribbean communities, but the report’s focus on South Asian and Middle Eastern heritage aligns closely with Muslim demographics.

The analysis shows a “stark increase of 50 per cent” from previous estimates of six million, with “vulnerability to deprivation among people of colour… in fact 12 times higher than that of white people,” up from earlier figures of eight times higher.

The evolution of these powers, described in the report as shifting “from disuse to abuse,” has enabled this targeted impact.

Citizenship deprivation in UK

Deprivation of citizenship was first enshrined in UK statute in 1914 but it fell almost completely into disuse across Europe following the Second World War, in revulsion at the Nazis stripping the citizenship of Jewish citizens of Germany.

From 1973-2002 there were no deprivations of UK citizenship, other than for fraud.

But since 2010, more than 200 people have been stripped of their citizenship on ‘public good’ grounds, with the UK ranking third globally behind Bahrain and Nicaragua.

Legal changes have exacerbated risks for British Muslims. The 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act extended powers to British-born citizens with dual nationality, while the 2006 Act lowered the threshold to actions merely “conducive to the public good.”

The 2014 Immigration Act allowed stripping from naturalised citizens if the Home Secretary believes they can acquire another nationality, even if it renders them stateless — a provision disproportionately affecting those with foreign heritage.

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. [Pic: UK Parliament].

The 2022 Nationality and Borders Act permitted revocations without notice, and the 2025 Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Act delays restoration even after successful appeals.

High-profile cases like that of Shamima Begum illustrate the human cost for British Muslims.

The report cites: “In February 2020, a tribunal ruled that removing her citizenship was lawful because she was ‘a citizen of Bangladesh by descent.’ However, Bangladeshi officials explicitly stated that she was not a Bangladeshi citizen and would not be welcomed.”

The report warns: “The current two-tier legal regime discriminates against people with a connection to another nationality, causing a significant and racialised disparity of rights. The right to citizenship in the UK for racialised groups – and all the legal rights that come with it – is conditional and continually under threat.”

Politically, the threat looms larger amid rising nationalism: “The Conservative Party has floated proposals to deport large numbers of legally settled people from Britain, the Reform party has promised to deport more than half a million people if elected, and prominent nationalist voices have called for ‘a massive increase in the use of this power to revoke citizenship.’”

In response, the organizations urge: “1. Introduce an immediate moratorium on the use of citizenship deprivation powers in section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981.; 2. Abolish 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, which allows the UK Home Secretary to strip citizens of nationality for ‘the public good’.; and 3. Reinstate the British citizenship of all those who have been deprived for the ‘public good’, in view of the discriminatory nature and arbitrariness of the deprivation regime.”

By 5Pillars (RMS)

This article is republished from 5 Pillars. Read the original article.