The UAE’s Preferred Method of Control: Stripping Citizenship

The UAE has long relied on revoking citizenship as its most discreet and preferred means of punishing and repressing political dissent, particularly against activists and dissidents.

Human rights activist Jenan al-Marzooqi noted in an article for Middle East Eye that many victims of this practice were either defendants in the “UAE 84” trial or their family members.

Last month, this trial—the second largest mass political trial in the UAE’s history—ended with at least 43 defendants being sentenced to life imprisonment on questionable terrorism charges.

According to Al Marzouqi, the troubling trend of citizenship revocation signals a deliberate attempt by the authorities to silence activists and foster an unprecedented “chilling effect” in civil society. A report by MENA Rights Group, published last month, detailed the widespread and alarming extent of this practice.

This trend originated on March 3, 2011, when 133 Emirati academics, judges, lawyers, students, and human rights defenders signed a petition addressed to the UAE president and the Supreme Council of the Union, advocating for democratic reforms.

Many of those who endorsed the petition were affiliated with the Islah Society, which has long been engaged in peaceful political discourse in the UAE.
The first documented case of citizenship revocation occurred just a few months after the petition was sent and involved the “UAE Seven”: Ahmed Al Suwaidi, Hassan and Hussein Al Jabri, Ibrahim Al Marzouqi, Mohammed Al Siddiq, Shaheen Al Hosni, and Ali Al Hammadi. In 2011, these seven individuals were stripped of their citizenship, leaving them stateless.

This punitive action was meant to intimidate and blatantly violated the UAE’s domestic legal framework, as none of the individuals had been issued a formal decree revoking their citizenship.

Additionally, this action breached the UAE’s international obligations, which mandate that citizenship revocation must adhere to the principle of proportionality—a principle that was clearly disregarded in this case.

Throughout 2012, the UAE’s Stte Security Service launched a brutal campaign of arrests targeting individuals who had signed the petition, many of whom were members of Islah. The State Security Service subjected the detainees to prolonged solitary confinement and severe torture.

The arrests culminated in the largest mass political trial in the UAE’s history, known as the “UAE 94” trial.

On 2 July 2013, the trial concluded with the conviction of 69 defendants, including the “UAE 7,” who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges of establishing, organizing, and directing an organization aimed at overthrowing the government.

In November 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared their detention to be arbitrary and their trial unfair. Despite most of these individuals having served their sentences, they remain imprisoned to this day.

On 7 December 2023, the majority of them were retried in the UAE’s second largest mass political trial, which involved 84 defendants. The verdict in the “UAE 84” case was delivered on 10 July 2024, with at least 43 defendants receiving life sentences, while others were given long prison terms.

Several members of the UAE 94 group, which is distinct from the UAE 7, have faced revocation of citizenship following their conviction.

Notably, Abdul Salam Al Marzooqi had his citizenship revoked in late 2016 without formal notification, again in violation of the authorities’ legal obligations under local law.

The authorities have also used this practice against family members of the UAE 94 group.

In March 2016, Mohammed Al Siddiq’s three sons were summoned to the Sharjah Immigration Office with their identity documents. An officer there informed them that their citizenship had been revoked and that they should seek another nationality, but refused to provide a copy of the revocation decree.

As a result, the three brothers became stateless and without official documents.

UN experts expressed serious concern about the revocations of citizenship in their communications with the UAE authorities.

Similarly, Abdul Salam Al Marzooqi’s children were stripped of their citizenship without official notice. In July 2016, five of his six children traveled to the United States for medical treatment.

While in the United States, they received a call from the Department of Nationality and Passports of the Ministry of Interior in Abu Dhabi, requesting that they bring all their identity documents to their office in the UAE.

Al Marzouqi family stated that they were unable to renew their identity documents while they were abroad, and since that time, none of them have been able to renew their documents.

In February 2022, they received another call from the Nationality and Passports Department, informing them that the sons’ citizenship had been revoked because they had inherited their father’s status after his citizenship was also revoked.

This confirmed that they had indeed lost their citizenship, but without any official decree, making the revocation arbitrary and illegal.

This confirmed that they had lost their citizenship, but they did not receive any official decree, making its revocation arbitrary and illegal.

The refusal to renew identity documents is another troubling phenomenon in the UAE. The majority of the “UAE 94” who live in exile, along with most of their families, are denied renewal of their IDs once they expire.

Although they haven’t been formally removed from the UAE’s system, they are effectively at risk of becoming stateless.

When they try to handle administrative matters, they aren’t explicitly told they are non-citizens but are instead asked to provide valid ID cards, which they no longer have. This practice is alarming because it lacks a legal basis and is widely used to punish activists and their families.

Individuals affected, whether formally stripped of their nationality or merely unable to renew their identity cards, encounter a host of challenges.

These challenges affect their ability to handle administrative tasks, secure insurance, pursue higher education, find employment, and travel.

Through these repressive measures, the UAE authorities are essentially violating a broad spectrum of human rights, including the right to nationality, freedom of movement, access to education, and the right to health, among others

These practices must come to an end immediately. The international community, along with human rights organizations and concerned individuals, must continue to pressure the UAE government to fulfill its legal obligations and uphold the rights of its citizens.

By exposing these injustices, we can strive to ensure that no one is left stateless or stripped of their basic human right to freely express themselves.