The Government is to move quickly to revoke the Irish citizenship of a Jihadi terrorist to prevent him being able to return to the State.
Ali Charaf Damache is serving a 15-year term in an American maximum security prison. Irish officials are keen to strip him of citizenship to prevent US authorities deporting him back here on his release.
It is understood the Government is also preparing to strip citizenship from a small number of other people who allegedly obtained their citizenship through fraud. The move forms part of a tougher approach to immigration signalled by Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
The Government first moved to strip Damache of his citizenship in 2018 but he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The court ruled with Damache and struck down the entire process for revoking citizenship from naturalised citizens.
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The situation was rectified this week when Mr O’Callaghan enacted legislation restoring the State’s power to revoke citizenship.
Removing Damache’s citizenship is likely to be the first test of the new powers. Under the powers the Minister can strip citizenship from naturalised immigrants but not native-born Irish citizens.
Before being struck down by the Supreme Court, the power was used sparingly. Only about 10 people had been stripped of citizenship since the foundation of the State.
However, in about 2015 security officials began pushing for broader use of the power in response to the small but growing number of Irish citizens found to be assisting Jihadi terror organisations such as the Islamic State.
The Government first attempted to revoke Damache’s citizenship after he was jailed for 15 years in the United States for leading a jihadist cell plotting terror attacks in Europe and southern Asia. Then minister for justice Charlie Flanagan sought to remove his citizenship on the basis that he broke his oath of “fidelity to the Irish nation and loyalty to the State”.
Damache appealed the decision from his cell in the United States. The case reached the Irish Supreme Court which found the revocation process did not meet the high standards of natural justice applicable to a person facing potential loss of citizenship.
Damache was born in Algeria but obtained Irish citizenship through marriage. As part of his plea deal with US prosecutors he agreed to his deportation to either Ireland or Algeria at the completion of his sentence. Irish officials want to remove his citizenship to ensure he is deported to his native Algeria and not Ireland.
Under the new rules Damache will again be able to challenge the process by appealing to an independent Committee of Inquiry. However, sources said he is unlikely to be successful given his history.
A Department of Justice spokesman said it cannot comment on individual cases. He said the new powers are not designed to disadvantage naturalised Irish citizens, and they will only be used in “the most serious of circumstances”.
