Australia has stripped five individuals of their Australian citizenship for their involvement with ISIS overseas bring the total number of dual nationals who have lost citizenship to six. Australian law was amended in 2015 to enable dual nationals to lose their citizenship rights for actions contrary to their allegiance to Australia. Independent intelligence sources say that the five were three men and two men aged between 20 and 30 years that had traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight for the terror organization.
The first person to lose Australian citizenship under the law was Sydney-born convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf. Sharrouf, 36, slipped out of Australia in 2013 on his brother’s passport because his own had been canceled because of his conviction for his part in a thwarted terrorist attack plot. Sharrouf horrified the world in 2014 when he posted on social media a photograph of his young son clutching the severed head of a Syrian soldier.
While stripping the five off the citizenship does not stop terror attacks it is a counterinsurgency strategy aimed at demotivating foreign nationals with Australian citizenship from taking part in any activities that jeopardize the national security of the nation. Australia has been the target of several attacks and propaganda campaign by ISIS as it is home to numerous refugees from the Middle East and Asia where there are many Islamist offshoots that seek to propel the ISIS ideologies. Thus, actively exposing Australia to frequent domestic and otherwise attacks and thwarted terror plots. Moreover, Australia’s involvement in global counterterrorism efforts championed by her allies exposes her to a myriad of terror threats.
