Senior Labour MP urges government to reconsider policy, while the Refugee Council says the move ‘flies in the face of reason’. The Home Office has toughened up existing guidance to make it nearly impossible for refugees to become British citizens if they travel to the UK by small boat. The move has already been condemned by Labour MP Stella Creasy and the Refugee Council, who said the move “flies in the face of reason”.
On Monday, the department updated guidance for staff assessing refugees so it now says applicants who have “made a dangerous journey will normally be refused citizenship”. Under the previous guidance, refugees who arrived in the UK by irregular routes would be required to wait ten years before being considered for citizenship. Ms Creasy urged the government to reconsider the policy, posting to X: “This should be changed asap. If we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them [a] route to become a British citizen.”.
“You can refuse to give asylum as we all know happens but this isn’t that. This is refusing citizenship to someone who has permission to stay indefinitely because of risk of harm. They aren’t ‘awful’. They are stateless and if this not reconsidered voiceless.”. Meanwhile, Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “The British public want refugees who have been given safety in our country to integrate into and contribute to their new communities.
“So many refugees over many generations have become proud hard-working British citizens as doctors, entrepreneurs and other professionals. Becoming a British citizen has helped them give back to their communities and this should be celebrated, not prevented.”. A Home Office spokesperson said: “There are already rules that can prevent those arriving illegally from gaining citizenship. “This guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused.”.
