Five Moroccan jihadists are set to get their Dutch passports back after the government withdrew the process to strip them of citizenship.
The five men had initially travelled to the Middle East in 2013 and 2014 to join jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq with former State Secretary for Justice and Security Mark Harbers having ordered that their passports and citizenships be revoked, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting reports.
The reason for the revocation was that the groups the jihadis had joined were classified as prohibited groups, however, they were not classified as such under Dutch law at the time the men joined them.
As a result, the Council of State reversed the decision to revoke their passports and citizenship, though one of the five jihadists, Driss Daouayry, was reported to have died in Syria in 2015 due to American bombings in the city of Kobani.
The stripping of citizenships of Islamic State and other jihadi fighters has been an issue for many countries across Europe with some, such as the UK, having stripped jihadists such as “Jihadi Jack” Jack Letts and ISIS-bride Shamima Begum of their citizenships.
The UK Home Office commented on the decision to remove UK citizenship from Letts, who is now solely a Canadian national, saying, “Decisions on depriving a dual national of citizenship are based on substantial advice from officials, lawyers and the intelligence agencies and all available information.”
Other European countries,m such as Sweden, have refused to entertain the idea of removing citizenship for Jihadis with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven saying they had every right to return to the country.
Sweden’s stance on returning jihadis has been criticised by many including terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp who said that Sweden should not allow ISIS women to return to the country because there are no current laws to prosecute them for the support they give to extremist groups.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com
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