Race and Citizenship in the context of the War on Terror

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This research will investigate the growing insecurity of citizenship in the context of the War on Terror with a particular focus on different forms of citizenship removal and exclusion and their racial dimensions. In the post 9/11 context the use of extradition, citizenship deprivation and charter flight deportations have been promoted, assisted in part by changes to the law, yet little is known about the extent of these forms of removal; who it is that is being extradited, having their citizenship deprived and being deported en masse; what the conditions are in which these removals occur; and what the justifications are for their use. This research will attempt to address these issues.Race, immigration and citizenship have always been deeply connected to each other but there have been stark changes in the context of the War on Terror which have intensified processes of removal in different ways. They have impacted disproportionately on Muslim and black and minority ethnic communities and have made it more difficult to access and make claims to rights of citizenship. Under the counter-terrorism agenda, revisions to law in 2003 have meant it has become easier to extradite individuals and initial analysis suggests the number of requests for extradition to the US have increased significantly since 2003. In this context, there have been a number of high profile cases whereby the protections of British citizenship, such as the possibility to respond to accusations in a UK court of law prior to removal, have been suspended. Political debates have ensued concerning who should have protections of British citizenship and who should not. Further amendments to nationality law mean it is also possible to deprive dual-nationals of their British citizenship if the Home Secretary makes a decision that their presence is 'not conducive to the public good'. More than 23 individuals have been stripped of their citizenship since 2003 and over 18 of these have been since 2010. These more severe measures of removal have also impacted on longstanding processes of deportation. In 2001 the Government began to use charter flights in order to ease and speed up the process of enforced removals. There have been charter flights to Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Pakistan and Iraq, and between December 2012 and April 2013 972 individuals were removed in this way. Against this background, the proposed research will conduct an investigation into the policies and processes of extradition, citizenship deprivation and mass deportation since 2001 examining the extent to which these processes are occurring, who they are happening to, what the racial dimensions of these processes are and what the narratives are which justify or contest these processes of removal. The findings will be brought together to assess what the implications are for the relationship between race and citizenship.The research will include documentary analysis of policy literature and legal decisions; interviews with lawyers; analysis of statistical data obtained through freedom of information requests; case studies of individuals subject to extradition and citizenship deprivation which will include interviews with family members, and third sector organisations; and discourse analysis of parliamentary debates and media representations.An advisory group made up of users will be consulted throughout the research project and subsequent dissemination activities. This is to ensure that the data collected is of use beyond the academy, and to ensure that the research has impact. Research outputs will include dissemination to practitioners (through a one-day workshop, and a 15-page research report), dissemination to the general public (through newspaper coverage, commentary pieces in popular press, a report, a project website and blog), and academic dissemination (through conference presentations, journal articles, and a research monograph in hard copy and digital format).