And obviously, the very same should apply to jihadis with either citizenship or residency permits traveling abroad to help their fellow islamonazis.
Record number stripped of Finnish citizenship
There are several ways to lose one’s Finnish nationality, including lying on a citizenship application – in which case one’s children may also have their citizenship cancelled. Young dual citizens growing up overseas must also take active steps in order to keep their Finnish nationality.
Fifteen people had their Finnish citizenship revoked last year, the newspapers Karjalainen and Etelä-Suomen Sanomat reported on Monday.
The figure is the highest ever recorded under current nationality legislation, which took effect in 2011. The most common reason for losing one’s Finnish nationality is erroneous or misleading personal information in citizenship applications. Children whose citizenship is paternal can also have it revoked if it turns out their father is not in fact Finnish.
Revocation of Finnish nationality was extremely rare until the past few years. In practice, authorities only take the step in regard to individuals who have recently been granted citizenship or children whose fathers are declared not to be citizens.
A child with a foreign mother and a Finnish father is entitled to citizenship. However if it is later determined that the father was actually non-Finn, the child can lose his or her Finnish citizenship.
“Nowadays there are a few such cases per year,” says Hanna Pihkanen of the Immigration Service.
The most common reason, however, is if officials find out afterwards that someone has lied or withheld pertinent information when applying – for instance providing the wrong date of birth.
One reason for such a subterfuge might be to avoid Finnish military or civilian service, which is required of all men under 30 who take on Finnish citizenship and have not carried out military service elsewhere.
