Two dual Danish nationals who joined Islamic State in Syria have been stripped of their citizenship under a new law applied for the first time, Denmark’s government said Tuesday, November 26.
The legislation enables the government to revoke the Danish citizenship of dual-national foreign fighters while they are abroad, even without a court ruling, which previously was a requirement.
“Two decisions have been made about revocation of citizenship due to a conduct seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the state,” the immigration and integration ministry told AFP in a written statement.
This is the first time the law has been applied since it was adopted in late October.
The ministry provided no details about the identities of the two people, but Danish media reported they were a 25-year-old man with Turkish and Danish citizenship, and a young woman.
According to daily Berlingske, a Danish court ordered the man, who grew up in western Copenhagen, held in detention in absentia in 2016 for having joined ISIS. He reportedly left Denmark in 2013 at the age of 19 and has not lived there since.
No details have emerged about the woman.
The ministry is currently examining two other similar cases.
People stripped of their nationality have four weeks to appeal the decision.
On Saturday, Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said Denmark will begin withholding consular assistance to its citizens who traveled abroad to join ISIS.
With reporting from AFP