A British Pakistani man and his three grown up sons are believed to be the first to be stripped of their citizenship, after being accused of being Islamist extremists.
A leading newspaper in Britain has reportedly revealed that Home Secretary Theresa May is believed to have taken away British citizenship from the unidentified 51-year-old and his sons in 2012. The man, identified only as ‘S1’, was born in Newcastle whilst his sons, all in their twenties, were born in London.
Mrs May’s decision to exile the family was upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) but the father says they are innocent of the allegations, claiming that he has been “unfairly” accused of supporting terror acts.
S1 however, reportedly admitted that his daughter had gone to fight in Syria with her husband who is known to be a jihadist but that the rest of the family were “British through and through”.
He also dismissed as “ludicrous” the government’s contention that he and his sons were “active members” of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
According to the documents the decision to deprive the men of their British nationality was taken personally by Mrs May. The four were flown to Pakistan in 2009 and “retained no home or business in the United Kingdom” when Mrs May made her decision in April 2011, the documents add.
A fourth son, who is disabled, and S1’s wife are not affected by the decision to remove the family’s British nationality.
The entire family is currently believed to be living in Shikharpur, Pakistan.
