Canada is accusing the UK of shirking its responsibilities in counterterrorism by stripping the British citizenship from an ISIS fighter known as Jihadi Jack, who also has Canadian citizenship.
Jack Letts, 24, a Muslim convert who traveled from Oxfordshire to Syria when he was 18 to join ISIS, has begged to be allowed to return to the UK after he was captured by the Kurds in 2017.
He insisted that he had “no intention” of killing Britons, but was declared an “enemy of Britain” and stripped of his citizenship – meaning he is Canada’s responsibility, according to the Telegraph.
“Canada is disappointed that the United Kingdom has taken this unilateral action to off-load their responsibilities,” Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said, the news outlet reported.
The British Home Office said revoking citizenship was one way the UK counters terror threats.
“Decisions on depriving a dual national of citizenship are based on substantial advice from officials, lawyers and the intelligence agencies and all available information,” the office said in a statement.
Letts, who has been held in a Kurdish prison for two years, told ITV in February that he wanted to return to Britain because he considered it his home.
In 2015, he posted on Facebook that he would like to perform a “martyrdom operation” on a group of British soldiers.
Letts’ parents were found guilty this year of sending him money and received a suspended sentence.
John Letts, 58, and Sally Lane, 56, said they were acting as any parents would have when he begged for help, but police said that “sending money to Jack is the same as sending money to ISIS.”
Goodale said terrorism knows no borders, so countries need to work together to keep each other safe, adding that Canada is under no legal obligation to bring Canadians detained in Syria home.