AFP |
Britain has revoked the citizenship of a dual national Muslim convert to the Islamic State group dubbed “Jihadi Jack” being held in northern Syria, leading Canada to accuse the UK of off-loading its responsibilities.
The move targeting Jack Letts, 24, who was a dual UK-Canadian national, has prompted a diplomatic row with Ottawa, Britain’s Mail on Sunday reported.
MoS EXCLUSIVE: Jihadi Jack has British citizenship stripped – sparking major row with Canada ahead of PM’s first G7. pic.twitter.com/O5LNe63DBa
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) August 17, 2019
Former prime minister Theresa May approved the decision – which had been made by then-interior minister Sajid Javid – in one of her last actions before leaving office in early July, the newspaper said.
A spokesperson for Britain’s interior ministry declined to confirm the report, noting it does not routinely comment on individual cases.
Terrorism knows no borders, so countries need to work together to keep each other safe.
“Decisions on depriving a dual national of citizenship are based on substantial advice from officials, lawyers and the intelligence agencies and all available information,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s like you’re being kicked in the gut.”
The parents of Jack Letts, often nicknamed 'Jihadi Jack’, give reaction to their son’s British citizenship being revoked for his membership of Isis in Syria. pic.twitter.com/ZRhbIcW2IX
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) August 18, 2019
“This power is one way we can counter the terrorist threat posed by some of the most dangerous individuals and keep our country safe.”
However, the office of Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale did confirm that “the United Kingdom revoked the citizenship of Jack Letts”, and expressed disappointment at the move.
Read more: ISIS Member Shares Video of Child Jihadist
“Canada is disappointed that the United Kingdom has taken this unilateral action to off-load their responsibilities,” the statement said.
“Terrorism knows no borders, so countries need to work together to keep each other safe”.
Canada's public safety minster says aware of UK revoking citizenship of British-Canadian Jack Letts, alleged ISIS operative known as Jihadi Jack; Goodale says Canada disappointed UK took 'this unilateral action to off-load their responsibilities'
— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) August 18, 2019
Letts was captured by Kurdish forces in Syria and is languishing in jail there, despite saying in a media interview earlier this year he would like to return to Britain.
“I’m not innocent,” he told ITV News. “I deserve what comes to me. But I just want it to be appropriate, not just haphazard, freestyle punishment in Syria.”
Letts converted to Islam at the age of 16 and fled his home in Oxfordshire, central England, two years later to join IS.
In February it faced criticism after stripping Shamima Begum, a teenager who traveled to Syria to marry an IS fighter, of her British citizenship.
His Canadian father and British mother were convicted in a UK court in June of funding terrorism by sending him a small amount of money during his time in Syria, but were spared jail.
In an interview on British television Sunday evening, Letts’ parents accused the British government of “shirking responsibility”.
"If the UK accepted me then I’d go back … But I don’t think that’s going to happen."
In an ITV News exclusive from a Kurdish prison in Syria, the Briton known as Jihadi Jack tells @RohitKachrooITV he wants to go home but "no one cares" about him https://t.co/gPyy9PM3Fu pic.twitter.com/9vWSkHHfTU
— ITV News (@itvnews) February 22, 2019
“It was a real shock that your government can do this to you without any form of redress or discussion or way of actually contacting Jack, given that he’s being held incommunicado and has no access to a lawyer,” his mother Sally Lane, 57, said.
“Jack and other people are now in a legal black hole,” she said, adding that she has been told that the Canadian government has been trying to bring Jack back.
The Mail on Sunday also reported that there were concerns that the issue could overshadow a meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Britain’s new leader Boris Johnson at the G7 summit in France next weekend.
Read more: French jihadist Jean-Michel Clain killed in Syria: wife
The decision is the latest instance of Britain revoking the citizenship of its nationals who went to join the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
In February it faced criticism after stripping Shamima Begum, a teenager who traveled to Syria to marry an IS fighter, of her British citizenship.