During a debate on the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the government announced that even people recognised as refugees may never be able to become a British citizen, just because they reached here by an irregular route.
Here’s what you need to know about the citizenship ban
On February 10th 2025, the Home Office published significant changes to the good character requirement for British Citizenship applications, which risk barring refugees from receiving British citizenship. The updated policy states that individuals applying for citizenship from February 10, 2025, who previously entered the UK illegally or arrived without valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation via a dangerous journey, will typically be refused citizenship, regardless of the time elapsed since their entry.
Together With Refugees is concerned that the denial of citizenship to refugees or stateless persons due to the mode of entry potentially breaches international law. For example, Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention prohibits people seeking protection from being penalised for illegal entry, provided they present themselves to authorities without delay and show good cause for their action.
It’s estimated that this ban could affect around 71,000 people currently in the UK, with many more in the future. This performative and cruel citizenship ban will only deepen division and hostility further. Despite working hard to build a new life here and be part of their community as neighbours, friends, and colleagues, refugees could be left on the outside, feeling unwelcome and like second-class members of society.
For many of those affected, it will mean significant insecurity and a deep lack of belonging for the rest of their life with:
- No passport at all – for any country.
- No vote anywhere in the world, including the country they now call home.
- Difficulty travelling abroad, with a struggle to get the right papers, for some this can mean never seeing family ever again.
- Total restriction on leaving the UK for more than two years – regardless of why, even for an important job opportunity.
“When I heard the news, it was like being hit with a bucket of cold water. Now I feel like no matter how hard I try; I’m never really going to be part of this society — it’s like I’ll always be an outsider who’s been added on but doesn’t truly belong. I also feel this constant sense of insecurity, like at any moment my status could be compromised.”
Farzad, a refugee from Iran
Here’s how you can help reverse the ban
Together With Refugees have been working behind the scenes with parliamentarians and refugee organisations to table an amendment to the Border Security Bill, which will ensure the new measures are not applied contrary to the UK’s international legal obligations, including the Refugee Convention. This amendment is being led by Bishop Guli and supported by Lord Kerr, Lord German, and Baroness Lister. You can find the amendment on page 28 here.
For more information on the amendment citizenship ban, read this briefing from ILPA and Together with Refugees, which has been supported by over 100 refugee orgs across the country.
Write to your MP about the citizenship ban
As parliament debates the Border Security Bill, it is important that your local MP hears from you. Together With Refugees has just launched a write-to-your-MP tool to make it easy to write to MPs about our collective opposition to the citizenship ban.
Get your community to also write to your MP
The more MPs hear from their constituents, the more likely they are to take action. Reach out to your neighbours, friends and colleagues and urge them to write to their MP too. If everyone in our coalition got just 10 people to take action, it would make a big difference. We’ve made template WhatsApps, social media and emails so it only takes a minute to reach out to your community.
Watch the Together With Refugees online campaign meeting on the citizenship ban
To find out more about the citizenship ban, the Border Security Bill and what we can do together to overturn it, watch the recording (passcode: R.3.*af4) from our recent online campaign meeting where we were joined by Zoe Bantleman (Legal Director at the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association) who is a leading expert and drafted the good character amendment.