JCWI Press Releases

Thursday 30 March 2006

Some British people have to prove good character to realise right to citizenship

Children over the age of ten and many adults currently entitled to register for British nationality will have to meet a good character test before obtaining citizenship after the new immigration bill was passed yesterday. JCWI is particularly worried about the impact on young people from visible minorities.

Currently, unlike those acquiring citizenship through naturalisation, people entitled to acquire UK nationality by registration do not have to meet a good character test because it is recognised that they have a just entitlement to citizenship. Yesterday MPs failed to debate an amendment which would have removed older children from the good character test.

One example may be someone born in Bangladesh to a man who obtained his citizenship in the UK, and then joins their father here as a young child. Although the person is automatically British, he or she cannot pass on their British citizenship to their own children born abroad. The child born to such an individual could be subject to the good character test if they fail to register before the age of ten

People of Asian and African nationality account for 72 per cent of all 140,700 grants of citizenship by registration and naturalisation according to the 2005 Home Office statistics, the countries of origin accounting for most grants of British citizenship being Somalia, Pakistan and India. Young people accounted for around one fifth people acquiring British nationality in 2004.

JCWI is worried that older children entitled to register by having a British parent could jeopardise their registration given the disproportionate way in which teenagers are targeted by anti-social behaviour disorders and the controversy surrounding the admissibility of hearsay evidence in issuing ASBOs.

Habib Rahman, Chief Executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said:

"It is of the utmost concern that a young person born to people legally settled here or to British parents overseas should now have to prove their good character before registering for citizenship.

"The original intention behind the citizenship clauses of the immigration bill was to tackle terrorism and serious crime, but they could put an extra hurdle in the way young people wanting the British citizenship they are justly entitled to.

"While we agree that juveniles who offend should be punished, we are very worried that some impressionable and vulnerable young people could end up paying for their youthful errors with their citizenship. We believe these measures are is in danger of sending young people from minorities the wrong messages on equality before the law and integration."

Notes to editors.

The affected groups:

CHILDREN

1. Those entitled to citizenship because they are born in UK and their parents have become settled after their birth -e.g. children of refugees; or work permit holders / students who had temporary stay at time of child's birth. The children have a right to register any time up to their 18th birthday.

2. Children born in UK and have lived here for the first ten years of their life. They didn't get citizenship automatically at birth because their parents were not settled here. These children have a right to register irrespective of their parents' status. Their parents may have died, gone away, been deported etc. There is no age limit to register.

3. Children born abroad to British parents who cannot pass on their citizenship automatically if they subsequently all come back to live in the UK for 3 years prior to the application. They can apply up to the age of 18.

ADULTS

1. Those born abroad to a British mother have a right to register if they were:

• born before 1983 (anyone born after this date could inherit through both parents, before this date they could only obtain it through their father - this was inherently discriminatory and so the law was changed in 1981)
• after 7/2/61 (This provision was introduced in the 2002 Act to provide redress for those who were victims of the pre 1981 discriminatory laws. Now to introduce a good character test in an age of anti-discrimination waters down the 2002 provision)

2. British Overseas Territories Citizens (BOTCs) - were given the right to register by Clare Short following the eruption of the volcano in Montserrat in 2001/02 so they can come to the UK. Why are they are now being made subject to this test?