“British citizenship gives me a sense of belonging”
At Young Roots, we know how important it is for young people to be able to rebuild their lives. Young people have hopes and dreams like all of us – after all they have been through, and after all the years of childhood they have lost, they deserve to be able to feel secure and think about the future. We also know how beneficial citizenship is for integration and therefore for our society more broadly.
That’s why we, and the young people we work with, were so shocked in February when the government quietly changed the rules for applying for British citizenship, making it almost impossible for most refugees to successfully apply.
On 10 February 2025, the government changed the Home Office guidance regarding the “good character requirement” for obtaining British citizenship. The change says that people who entered the UK “illegally” and/or arrived through dangerous routes will “normally” be refused British citizenship, no matter how long ago they arrived in the UK.
This change punishes people for using irregular routes to reach safety, when people have no choice about using these routes – there aren’t ‘regular’, safe routes for people to enter the UK as an asylum-seeker.
As soon as these changes were announced, young people started asking us questions and expressing their concerns. The changes have caused a huge amount of distress and uncertainty in refugee policies for young people, who have had to deal with so many hostile laws and policies over the last few years. In response to this, we met with young people and asked them what they feel about these changes. We then shared these views with local MPs and with the Ministers of Asylum, and Nationality and Citizenship, and we are now sharing young people’s words with you – our community – too.
We asked young people who have British citizenship why it was important to them, and why they don’t think refugees should be blocked from being able to access it. They said:
“What does citizenship mean to me? In the ceremony, you are committing to something, you have in your heart and god and you swear you are going to protect the country. It's a lot of responsibility - that reflects in your day-to-day activities. Even when you go to the supermarket, how you treat people. You start thinking and doing things the right way.
British citizenship gives me a sense of belonging. A lot of people including me, never had somewhere to call home - the UK is home for me. I only felt this when I became a British citizen - you don't feel it because you don't have the sense of security. I do belong somewhere. I need to make them proud.”
“What you want is a stable place to feel safe and live safely, safe place where I can live without being scared, so I can study, do the basic things - study, work, live my life without stress and without being scared I will be harmed...”
“[Now I have citizenship] emotionally I'm very calm now I have this, and I am more ambitious. I am more confident, I feel open to do things - I don't have that stress, that uncertainty, you don't wake up and don't know what will happen.”
We also asked young people who are not yet British citizens, why citizenship mattered to them and how the recent changes have affected them. They said:
“Without citizenship, can’t build a better life”
“Worrying about not getting citizenship affects our mental health”
“Person who comes to UK needs security, needs to feel safe”
“Our countries are damaged – what can we do?”
“Citizenship makes you free”
“I am still young – how can I be here for so many years and not be able to get citizenship?”
“Citizenship makes us all feel safer”
“This law is not good because have problems in our country – if we go back, maybe we will be killed. If you are here, why can you not become a citizen?”
"I have many plans I need to do – how can I do this without citizenship? I need to feel safe.”
“Without citizenship, we cannot vote on the changes that affect us”
People also highlighted that the changes were made without asking MPs, and without a debate in Parliament.
Young people are asking MPs to raise their voices with government, and for the rules to be reversed.