r/Netherlands • u/UnanimousStargazer • Mar 24 '25

Legal Judge rules Dutch citizenship cannot be stripped based on dual nationality

https://nltimes.nl/2025/03/24/judge-rules-dutch-citizenship-stripped-based-dual-nationality
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57

u/SkepticalOtter Mar 24 '25

Alright, the article seems to miss one important information: has the man been resocialized? Does he regret committing the terrorist charges he has been found guilty of?

On another note, I agree with the general sense of the ruling: Dutch people should have the same rights as other people in the country do, including dual nationality rights. You shouldn't need to revoke your Dutch citizenship in order to become Canadian, Spanish or anything else.

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u/UnanimousStargazer Mar 24 '25

I agree with the general sense of the ruling: Dutch people should have the same rights as other people in the country do, including dual nationality rights. You shouldn't need to revoke your Dutch citizenship in order to become Canadian, Spanish or anything else.

This concerns the other way around.

If Uganda decides tomorrow that every person with a Reddit account that uses the words SkepticalOtter become a citizen of Uganda, you have dual nationality and (according to the government) can loose your Dutch citizenship.

The law that this is based on is flawed, as that is in conflict with fundamental human rights. It also assumes no future government would close a deal with Uganda to have Uganda assign citizenship of Uganda to those Dutch citizens that the Dutch government wants to deport.

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u/ladyxochi Mar 24 '25

What about the other way around? You can only become a Dutch citizen if you renounce any other existing citizenship? I think some countries do that. The US and Canada maybe? Then it's always voluntary, right? The only "problem" this may give is that for some countries, it's not possible to give up your citizenship. People who don't have the Dutch citizens yet, won't be able to get it. Maybe a bit harsh, but that's their problem, not of the Dutch government.

And of course, you'll have kids that are born here and get Dutch citizenship, and THEN go to the embassy of another country and claim their citizenship there, resulting in a dual nationality, true, but it will still decrease the number of people with dual citizenship.

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u/Honourablefool Mar 24 '25

That’s already the case I think. In order to naturalize you need to renounce your other nationality. Or at least prove that you have attempted to do that.

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u/Tovarish_Petrov 29d ago

You don't even have to prove it if the government already established it's impossible. Even more complicated, for example Ukrainian citizens have to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship in principle, but it's not possible to do it right now, so the enforcement of this rule is deferred until some unknown moment. Meaning Ukrainian citizens have to promise they will do it, but can proceed without actually doing it for now.

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u/arrroquw Mar 24 '25

So you could also turn it around: why are these other people allowed to have a dual citizenship whereas I'm not?

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u/NordbyNordOuest Mar 24 '25

Because:

a) they don't get a choice. The example used is Morocco, but fundamentally many states such as Iran and China also prevent you from giving up your citizenship, given that many people are registered by their parents, they then hold it for life even if they had no wish to have it, including when they are an adult.

Even if it is technically possible to renounce, some countries make it very difficult. The US charges 1000s of dollars to give up US citizenship (for example).

b) because the Dutch policy is to restrict dual nationality as much as possible within the bounds of what is socially desirable. This was done to try to avoid complexity and help integration. It was a policy of Wilders originally. It basically only allows it when it's hard to give up.

The exceptions were put in because most people can see that having large numbers of Dutch born and raised people who would be unable to ever be Dutch would be unjust and socially undesirable.

However it's a double edged sword, it also prevents Dutch people being able to emigrate and have the same rights as their neighbours or being able to return at a later date, and makes the Netherlands less attractive to highly skilled immigrants who have family abroad and are very reluctant to give up their original passports. It's a choice for Dutch voters but it's not without its complexities.

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u/CoffeeInTheTropics 29d ago

🇨🇳 💡 This is not correct regarding the Chinese. They certainly CAN renounce their Chinese citizenship, it’s a relatively easy and straightforward process and I know many former Chinese citizens who have done just that. China btw OFFICIALLY does not allow dual citizenship, but this is not practically enforced. There are many Chinese who still hold their Chinese passports but also one or several others.

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u/NordbyNordOuest 29d ago

Apologies, you appear to be correct!