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Who is N3? A thread on the British man whose lengthy legal battle from abroad against the Home Office ended last month when Priti Patel withdrew the decision depriving him of his citizenship. Upon returning to the UK, N3 was arrested & remains in custody. https://news.sky.com/story/man-who-won-legal-fight-to-stop-his-uk-citizenship-being-revoked-subject-to-campaign-of-harassment-12291909
N3 is a seasoned aid worker who was deprived of his British citizenship in October 2017 by then Home Secretary Amber Rudd. The only reason given for the decision was that it had been assessed that N3 had travelled to Syria and "aligned with an al-Qaeda aligned group".
To break this down: N3 is not accused of
- being a member of AQ
- being aligned to AQ
- being a member of a group aligned to AQ
- being a member of any terrorist group
He is accused of being aligned to an unnamed group that is itself aligned to al-Qaeda.
- being a member of AQ
- being aligned to AQ
- being a member of a group aligned to AQ
- being a member of any terrorist group
He is accused of being aligned to an unnamed group that is itself aligned to al-Qaeda.
Without any legal definition of 'alignment' or being informed of the name of the group, it is difficult to engage with the allegations. However, N3 denies any criminality and insists that he is an aid worker whose travel abroad was strictly for humanitarian relief purposes.
It is of note that N3 returned to the UK for 4 months in 2017 during which time he was never questioned by British police and was permitted to leave the UK on a British passport. Two weeks later, he was deprived of his citizenship leaving him stranded abroad.
While the Home Secretary has the power to deprive individuals of their citizenship, she cannot do so if it would render the individual stateless. Rudd argued that despite being born British, N3 was also a Bangladeshi citizen by virtue of his heritage.
Stranded in Turkey, N3 appealed the decision to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. In Nov 2018, it found that while N3 had been a dual national, he had lost his Bangladeshi citizenship on his 21st birthday in accordance with Bangladeshi law. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/court-rules-british-man-stranded-turkey-was-wrongly-stripped-citizenship
The then Home Secretary Sajid Javid appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal. In late November 2019, the Court found that SIAC had committed an error of law when coming to its decision and ordered for the case to be reheard by SIAC. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/legal-setback-men-fighting-regain-british-citizenship
However, weeks earlier on 4 November, concerned by increased harassment from Turkish intelligence, N3 decided to come home. He flew to Germany, entered France & tried to board a ferry to Britain. He was denied entry, pushed back into France & detained by the French authorities.
Based on the information provided by the Home Office to the French, N3 was subsequently detained under immigration powers while they sought to deport him to Bangladesh. The problem was, Bangladesh refused to accept him as one of its citizens leaving N3 effectively stateless.
Despite the French courts questioning the lack of evidence against N3 and the vagueness of the terms of the British assessment, he remained subject to detention and immigration bail for the next 18 months while his lawyers in the UK appealed his case to the Supreme Court.
In March 2021, SIAC allowed the appeals of 3 other British citizens of Bangladeshi heritage who had been deprived of their citizenship, as the decisions had rendered them stateless. The appeals in this regard bore a remarkable similarity to N3's own case. https://www.freemovement.org.uk/three-win-appeals-against-losing-british-citizenship/
Pressed by N3's lawyers to drop the case against him in light of those findings, Home Secretary Priti Patel finally conceded on 20 April this year that the decision to deprive N3 was unlawful and that it had been withdrawn.
Just over a week later, N3 was deported from France. He was handed over to British police at Coquelles where the UK operates border controls at the entrance to the Channel tunnel. He was not, as some media outlets have put it, 'snared' trying to sneak back into the UK.
N3 was taken to a London police station where he is assisting the police with their inquiries. Having been rendered stateless & left in exile for over 3 years, N3 was finally given his first opportunity to respond to the allegations against him last week. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-man-unlawfully-left-stateless-over-travel-syria-returns-uk
N3's treatment at the hands of the State is questionable if not appalling. As a direct result of the Home Secretary's actions, he has been separated from his wife & three children, his mother, his home and left nameless and stateless at the mercy of foreign governments.
Questions:
1. What evidence does the Met have now that was not available to them in 2017 when N3 was in the UK?
2. If such evidence was available at the time, why was N3 never arrested or questioned?
3. Why was N3 allowed to leave the UK if there was evidence of his guilt?
1. What evidence does the Met have now that was not available to them in 2017 when N3 was in the UK?
2. If such evidence was available at the time, why was N3 never arrested or questioned?
3. Why was N3 allowed to leave the UK if there was evidence of his guilt?
In December 2019, @robertverkaik1 met with N3 while he was detained in France and published a very detailed account of his life before and after deprivation.
https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2019/12/07/verkaik-the-case-of-n3/
A podcast was also produced of that interview https://podcasts.apple.com/mu/podcast/nameless-stateless-n3/id1487320403?i=1000458921965
https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2019/12/07/verkaik-the-case-of-n3/
A podcast was also produced of that interview https://podcasts.apple.com/mu/podcast/nameless-stateless-n3/id1487320403?i=1000458921965
