Donald De Castro’s good Nov. 1 commentary, “‘Citizen’ and ‘belonger’ explained,” talks about nationality, citizenship and belonger status. I want to share with you another aspect of this. I represent the Campaign to End Citizenship Discrimination against British overseas territory children born abroad (in my case in the United States) and out of wedlock to fathers from BOTs, who have automatic full British citizenship under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.
I was born abroad in the United States to an unmarried father from a BOT, who had automatic full British citizenship under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002. My mother holds a US nationality.
Before my birth, my father was a “Windrush” immigrant who went to the United Kingdom from Montserrat in 1961 to join his brother and sister. While in the UK, he had three children (my siblings) in the UK. He remained there until 1968, when he temporarily left to come study in the US. During that time, he met my mother, and I was born in 1969.
Blocked from UK
When he tried to return to the UK after completing his studies, he was blocked as new legislation was introduced in 1968 and 1971 that severely restricted further immigration from the Commonwealth. Despite having all his work, tax and National Insurance records and having had a previous “right of abode in the UK,” he was told he was no longer welcome. He remained in the US and went on to marry another lady and have more children.
Any children born in wedlock can claim their father’s citizenship by descent. But because I am “illegitimate,” I am deemed under British nationality law as unworthy, like a dirty little secret that is swept under the carpet. So we end up with divided families who cannot come to their father’s countries or mainland UK without restriction.
Caribbean BOTs
Interestingly enough, this anomaly in nationality law disproportionately affects Caribbean territories.
Under the British Nationality Act 1981, and all the subsequent laws rolled into it, if you were born illegitimate, like me, between 1948 and 2006 to a BOT father who did not marry his foreign-born partner and went on to have foreign-born children, the father and his children are discriminated against under British nationality laws on the following basis: gender (applies to male line only), lack of marital status of parents, and birth status (out of wedlock).
This sort of categorical exclusion deprives children, many of whom are now adults, (another type of Diaspora), of being officially recognised as dual British/BOT citizens by descent. This impacts our cultural identities, making us feel “less-than” and rejected, and preventing us from being officially recognised as part of our father’s homeland. It hurts. We already must suffer the shame of being born out of wedlock.
Local laws
Despite the territories having in place their local laws which speak to belonger status — and also under local laws discrimination against illegitimate children was removed from local law — the British Nationality Act 1981, which controls citizenship and nationality in the territories, has failed to include BOT children of descent from the male line.
What makes this even more unfair is that illegitimate children, now adults, who are born abroad to unmarried British mainland-born fathers before 2006 were given a retrospective route to register and claim their fathers’ British citizenship in 2014 under amendments made in Section 65 of the Immigration Act 2014. Children of BOT descent, in the same position, were being intentionally left out by the British government because (per the Home Office), “there was no time to consult the governments of the territories before the introduction of the legislation.” The government minister in the House of Lords at the time, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, did state that the government would look for suitable opportunities to consult with the territories once the legislation was in place. So far, very little consultation has taken place.
‘Left out’
My question is: How come the local governments of the territories did not have their eye on the ball and realise that their illegitimate children were going to be left out? Why would they continue to tolerate it? It is not as if they were not told. I wrote to them.
I know I am not the only one out here, and we are not talking about thousands and thousands of people who are demanding the right of abode in your territories. A lot of people have already died off, never to be officially embraced or recognised by their fathers’ home countries. But the time has come for the territories’ governments to stand up and make noise for their children of descent. Don’t be pushed around by the British government. Demand equality and equity. The territories should be outraged that their children are being hurt and discriminated against.