Bill to deprive “extremists” of citizenship passes two readings in parliament

December 14, BPN. A bill to amend the law “On Citizenship of the Republic of Belarus” has passed two readings in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly.

The House of Representatives’ press office reports that it would introduce new grounds for annulling citizenship such as “a court sentence that has come into legal force, confirming that a person participates in extremist activities or causes serious harm to Belarus’ interests, when that person is outside Belarus.”

The bill was introduced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At a meeting with Alaksandr Łukašenka on September 6, Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakoŭ said the amendments would allow the state to deprive “extremists” of birthright citizenship.

On November 24, the UN’s special rapporteur on Belarus Anaïs Marin said that a legal rule to revoke birthright citizenship was outrageous.

In the summer of 2021, legislative changes came into force allowing officials to strip convicted extremists of acquired citizenship.