Switzerland to strip jihadis of citizenship in major terror crackdown

From the Express:

“SWITZERLAND has passed a law that allows the government to remove dual nationality from jihadists. 

The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration has made changes to its Civil Rights bill to deal with the increasing issue of terrorism in Europe. 

A case was brought before the courts when the government applied to strip a 19-year-old of his dual nationality. The unnamed man, who joined Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria in 2015, also held Italian nationality but posted photos of himself with the decapitated head of one of his victims. 

Now the jihadi from Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in northern Switzerland is no longer a citizen although he is also believed to be dead. 

Since 2001, the country says 77 people have fled Switzerland to fight in the Middle East. And the Federal Intelligence Service says 17 of those believed to have travelled to Iraq and Syria had dual nationality. 

The country has now toughened up laws which will come into full force in January that allows them to strip terrorists of their status and their passports in a bid to expel them from the country. 

According to reports the laws state that those convicted of crimes in connection with terrorist activities, violent extremism or organised crime can have their citizenship revoked. 

Dual citizens could also lose their Swiss passport if they “endanger in the long term Switzerland’s good relations with another state by insulting that state”. 

The latest clampdown comes just weeks after the majority of the country came out to vote on immigration issues. 

The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration said: “The population has adopted the law on accelerated asylum procedures with 66.8 per cent in favour on June 5 2016. 

“Thus, the electorate has anchored two principles law: First, the asylum procedures are accelerated. “Second, the rapid asylum procedure in Switzerland continues to be conducted to ensure it is constitutionally correct. 

“This is the basis of a consistent, fair and credible asylum system.” The government previously had the ability to remove citizenship based on a law from just after the Second World War. But critics are worried the 1952 legislation which had never been enacted did not go far enough. 

This latest law is set to come into practice in January 2017.”