It is time for the UAE to think again on the matter of citizenship revocation

The revocation of citizenship policy gives great sustenance to the UAE authorities to silence their critics and suppress any dissent in the country.

In recent years, the UAE government has reportedly stripped hundreds of their citizenship, apparently citing ‘national security’ in total violation to the international human rights law which prohibits arbitrary deportation and the exiling of persons from their own country. 

The right to a nationality, which must not be deprived arbitrarily, is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - to which the UAE is a not signatory. 

The Emirati regime appears blissfully untroubled by such concerns.

Human rights groups have warned that the use of citizenship-stripping as a punitive measure against government critics may give convenient cover to regimes less concerned about the niceties of the law.