Session 2021-22
Nationality and Borders Bill
Written evidence submitted for The Nationalities and Borders Bill by the British Overseas Territories Citizenship Campaign
(NBB03)
Dear Committee Members,
Subject: Nationality and Borders Bill 2021 – Committee Stage Public Scrutiny - Part 1 Nationality Clauses 1 through 8 Only
Our campaign offers this response to the public scrutiny committee stage of this bill as indicated above. The signatories below, are just a small group of people affected. Please consider and note our responses.
Our campaign is the driving force behind clauses 1 through 4. We have worked tirelessly over the past several years for nationality & citizenship equality rights for us, the children of descent born abroad, out of wedlock to British Overseas Territories fathers (before 1 July 2006) and mothers (before 1 January 1981). We were intentionally left out after Section 65 Immigration Act 2014 came into being that legislation gave a retrospective pathway for registration to children born abroad out of wedlock to mainland UK born fathers.
We acknowledge our clauses in this bill is set amongst other important controversial subjects. We urge the committee to not be distracted and to ensure that our nationality clauses are fully supported as the bill makes through it’s through the parliamentary processes.
Throughout our journey, we were always told that for requests to become legislation it would require a broad-titled bill. In an ideal world we would have liked our issue to have stood in its own right in a sperate bill but, that’s not where it is.
These nationality clauses will finally place British Overseas Territories children, now adults of descent, on an equal footing with mainland UK children, now adults born under the same circumstances. It is our view that nationality laws should always be focused on ensuring equality and fairness across the board.
It is a fact that a child is made up of two parts DNA, and has two parts to its family tree. It is completely wrong for government's not officially acknowledge children like is when creating & amending nationality legislation. A child has no control over its parents’ choices, and sometimes they may have had good reason why they could not marry, but we not be punished or denied because of this. This means being treated equally and officially recognised and embraced for dual-nationality purposes. If you were to take a negative view of us and not more forward with this legislation, it would only continue to add to our deep sense of humiliation & rejection. We must have the right under the law to welcomed and embraced by our fathers and mothers’ homelands.
It would be completely unfair of us to only highlight our issue. We are all too aware there are still groups of children out here who will fall through the cracks. We refer specially to the 3 rd and 4 th generation children of Chaggosian descent. They are a very special case and deserving of inclusion and accommodation in this bill. Many of these children have contacted us via our web site and to hear their pain, sadness and frustration is very disturbing. They have a very deep connection to the United Kingdom, and we would support that being honored.
We respectfully ask if there is any way they can be added to this bill, then please give it serious consideration. It certainly would bring them in from the cold and make some kind of start in righting their wrongs.
We urge your committee to support further amendments to this bill to accomplish this goal.
\We ask all MPs to pay attention to our clauses when they vote, and do so in the positive. We hope a spirit of compromise prevails.
Yours Sincerely,
Trent L. Miller
BOTC Campaign Founder.
David B. Varney
BOTC Campaign Coordinator.
Shelley Joubert,
Person Affected
Romancia Rogers,
Person Affected
Monday 23rd August 2021