“No Further Actions,” Vanuatu Has no Plans to Revoke Andrew Tate’s Citizenship

Gov’t: “We should have not allowed him in the first place,” but “can’t just go back and revoke based on information that is discovered later.”

Vanuatu has decided not to revoke Andrew Tate’s citizenship following a government review, despite the influencer obtaining his passport during the same month he was arrested on human trafficking and rape charges in Romania, according to the Guardian.

Government spokesperson Kiery Manassah told the Guardian that the Pacific island nation’s citizenship office found no fault with Tate’s application documents.

Manassah explained that “the chairman [of the citizenship office] confirms that the way it is at the moment, he [Tate] remains a citizen and for Vanuatu, there are no further actions to be taken.”

The review determined that Tate “was cleared by Interpol, and the UK” when he received citizenship in December 2022, according to The Guardian.

Tate had secured his Vanuatu passport through the country’s Development Support Program. The government issued Tate’s passport in January 2023 while he remained in Romanian custody, according to the OCCRP.

Manassah acknowledged that government awareness of the allegations would have changed the outcome. The spokesperson believes “we should have not allowed him in the first place” if proper processes had revealed the charges, but emphasized that “we can’t just go back and revoke based on information that is discovered later.”

The decision represents a complete reversal from Manassah’s earlier position. The spokesperson had initially told ABC News that authorities were “definitely looking into” Tate’s citizenship, declaring that “once we have the files, definitely, the processes will be in place to revoke his citizenship.”

Manassah’s comments come as a sharp U-turn, as he had previously affirmed the government’s plans to revoke Tate’s status.

Manassah had previously emphasized that “the government does not want to encourage people of questionable backgrounds to be granted citizenship.”

He stated that “those who are wanted by their countries or who are investigated by police authorities from overseas are not welcome to be part of the citizens of Vanuatu.”

He would then say, “once we have the files, definitely, the processes will be in place to revoke his citizenship.” Now, however, Manassah and the Vanuatu government are singing a different tune.

Tate faces charges in both Romania and the United Kingdom. Romanian authorities arrested him in December 2022 on charges including rape, human trafficking, and forming an organized crime group.

UK prosecutors recently filed additional charges against both Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate, covering alleged incidents between 2012 and 2015.

The brothers deny all allegations from both jurisdictions. A Romanian appeals court ruled in December that the human trafficking case could not proceed due to legal and procedural irregularities, sending it back to prosecutors.

Prime Minister Jotham Napat, who took office earlier this year, has pledged to overhaul the CIP that serves as a key government revenue source.

The commitment follows revelations that Vanuatu granted citizenship to other controversial figures, including fugitive former Indian cricket chief Lalit Modi.

Manassah indicated that conviction could trigger future citizenship revocation. The government “could consider” such measures if Tate receives a guilty verdict, though no timeline exists for either the Romanian or UK legal proceedings.

Manassah confirmed that “new regulations have been signed off by the prime minister and the current chairman under [citizenship commissioner] Charles Maniel, is trying to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again and that we our improve our due diligence processes.”

The Tate brothers are scheduled for extradition to the UK following the conclusion of Romanian proceedings. Their UK lawyer confirmed last week that both would return to Britain to defend themselves against the charges.