Belgium plans to revoke foreign fighters' citizenship
Belgium's new coalition government proposes to deny citizenship and residency for those who fight abroad.
BRUSSELS
Belgium is planning legislation to deprive those who go to fight abroad of their citizenship and residency, the new coalition government announced Friday.
Under the proposals, those without Belgian citizenship could be denied entry to the country while those with dual nationality could lose their Belgian citizenship.
According to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, just under 300 people left Belgium in the two years up to December to fight in Syria.
The London-based think tank said Belgium was one of the most heavily affected countries in western Europe, supplying 27 fighters per million of population.
The new Belgian prime minister is due to be sworn in on Saturday. Charles Michel, 38, is the leader of the French-speaking Reformist Movement, which has formed a coalition with three Flemish parties, including the nationalist New Flemish Alliance.
Willy Borsus, vice president of the Reformist Movement, said during a press conference on Thursday that the government must “act decisively” to fight “radicalization.”
According to Rachid al-Ghannouchi, the Tunisian leader of the Ennahda movement, discrimination in Western society is pushing young Muslims to join armed groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Amnesty International said earlier this year that discrimination against Muslims “can result in isolation, exclusion and stigmatization.”
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