German authorities have revoked the citizenship of only two dual nationals for fighting with terrorist organizations abroad, despite approximately 1,150 Islamists having traveled from Germany to Syria and Iraq between 2011 and 2024 to join the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, or other Islamist groups.
The issue has returned to the political spotlight following the Islamist attack on Berlin’s Christopher Street Day parade, with calls to strip convicted Islamist extremists of their German citizenship where legally possible.
Germany introduced a legal provision in 2019 allowing dual nationals to be stripped of their German citizenship if they actively participate in combat operations for terrorist organizations abroad. The measure was adopted after hundreds of Germans traveled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State.
However, figures provided exclusively to Apollo News by the Federal Ministry of the Interior show the law has been used only twice. According to the ministry, “Since the regulation came into force, the Register of Decisions in Citizenship Matters (EStA) shows two cases in which the conditions under Section 28 Paragraph 1 Number 2 of the Nationality Act were met.”
The mentioned provision only applies to dual nationals, as German law does not permit individuals to become stateless, and it does not apply to minors.
The figures stand in stark contrast to the scale of Islamist departures from Germany over the past decade. Between 2011 and 2024, around 1,150 Islamists left Germany to join the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, or other Islamist organizations in Syria and Iraq. Approximately half of those who traveled also possessed German citizenship.
The debate became especially fierce since the attack on Berlin’s LGBT parade by Abdul Ballout, an Islamist who managed to ram his van into the parading crowd despite being under active surveillance by police. Ballout had also been convicted of preparing a serious act of violence after attempting to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State. However, the court suspended his 22-month prison term and released him on probation after accepting that he had distanced himself from extremist ideology.
After the attack, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) politicians called for the deportation of all foreign nationals deemed to be a threat and the stripping of all Islamists residing in Germany of their German citizenship.
