Sarah Idan, the Iraqi supermodel who won the title of Miss Universe Iraq in 2017 and represented the country at the Miss Universe beauty pageant that year, has stepped forward to declare that she may end up losing her citizenship due to the efforts of Iraqi lawmakers.
According to The Washington Times, during her 26 June speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Idan mentioned "the 6 million Iraqis displaced since 2014, the killing of protesters and poor living conditions", allegedly attracting the ire of "Iraqi conservatives" with these remarks and prompting the Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee to call for a revocation of her Iraqi citizenship.
"2 weeks ago Iraq denied my statements at the UN that I don’t have freedom to speak about Israel now they’re taking my citizenship”, Idan tweeted, describing this initiative as "inhumane".
Her plea had apparently struck a chord with many social media users, including Yair Netanyahu, the son of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A Geneva-based NGO called UN Watch also took note of this development, with its executive director Hillel Neuer urging UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to address the issue.