Danish government reaches agreement to revoke passports of ISIS terrorists

The government and Danish People’s Party (DF) have agreed new rules that will enable authorities to withdraw passports from individuals found to have fought for militant groups abroad.

The new rules will provide for an administrative process that will enable passports to be revoked without going through the courts, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration announced.

Immigration minister Inger Støjberg said in a statement that she was “very satisfied” with the agreement.

“These people have gone to fight against democracy, freedom and everything Denmark stands for, and they do not belong in Denmark,” Støjberg said.

In addition to the new provision on passports, the government and its parliamentary ally DF have also agreed to change citizenship rules.

A new rule will mean that citizenship will not automatically be given to children born to Danish mothers if they are abroad with the purpose of fighting for groups such as Islamic State (Isis) at the time of the child’s birth.

That means that children born in areas where it is illegal to travel to will not be automatically entitled to Danish citizenship if their parents entered the country or region in question illegally.

“Their parents have turned their back on Denmark, so there is no reason for their children to be citizens,” Støjberg said.

Although the agreement is currently supported by a majority in parliament, it cannot be passed into law until after general elections, which must take place no later than June, Ritzau writes.

Police security agency PET has estimated that 150 people have, since 2012, travelled from Denmark to Iraq or Syria to take part in wars there.

Of those, around one third has returned to Denmark, according to the intelligence agency’s assessment.

PET has also estimated that “some women who travelled [to the relevant areas] took children with them into conflict areas, and some had children while they were there”.

Around 40 Danish foreign fighters are still in areas of conflict, of which 10 are in prison, Minister of Justice Søren Pape Poulsen said at a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday. The remainder have returned to Denmark, travelled to other countries or have been killed.

Source: The Local