UK-born Toddler Denied Passport Draws Parallels to Windrush Scandal

Campaigners say Britain has failed to learn from past injustices as a three year old born in Birmingham is denied citizenship and NHS access.

A three-year-old girl born in Birmingham has been denied a British passport and classified as ineligible for free NHS treatment, prompting outrage and comparisons to the Windrush scandal. The case has raised serious questions about whether the UK has truly reformed its immigration and nationality systems since the wrongful detentions and deportations of Caribbean residents exposed in 2018.

Zharia-Rae, the child at the heart of the dispute, was born in the UK to Anguillan parents. Her mother, Tracy Ann Dunkley, became a British citizen in 2024, while her older brother, born in 2020, received his British passport two years ago. Despite identical circumstances, Zharia-Rae has been refused citizenship and classified instead as a British Overseas Territories (BOT) citizen a category that carries fewer rights and privileges.

Denied Citizenship and NHS Access

The Home Office’s decision has left Dunkley struggling to prove her daughter’s entitlement to healthcare. Letters sent by NHS officials have demanded documentation verifying Zharia-Rae’s eligibility, warning that an invoice will be issued for her medical treatment if she cannot prove her right to free care.

Zharia-Rae, who was born with hip dysplasia, is non-verbal and undergoing assessment for autism, requires regular medical attention. Dunkley, who is her full-time caregiver, says she has been left frightened and overwhelmed by the demands.

“I don’t have any way to pay for medical treatment,” she said. “It feels like we’re constantly fighting a system that doesn’t see us as belonging here.”

Struggles with Employment and Bureaucracy

The difficulties extend beyond her daughter’s citizenship. Dunkley recalls how, after maternity leave, she was barred from returning to her job because of new documentation checks introduced by her employer.

“My manager told me to upload my documents onto an app before coming back,” she said. “I used the same documents I had when I was first hired, but then I was told I wasn’t eligible to work anymore. It made no sense.”

Between caring for two children with additional needs and managing immigration paperwork, Dunkley says she feels “completely drained.”

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“You feel like there’s no fight left,” she said. “People don’t understand what it’s like when your child is in pain but can’t tell you what’s wrong.”

Campaigners See Windrush Parallels

Activists have condemned the case as another sign that the UK government has not learned from the Windrush scandal, when hundreds of long-term Caribbean residents were wrongly denied rights, detained, or deported.

Euen Herbert-Small, a Windrush activist and nationality researcher, called Zharia-Rae’s case “deeply alarming.”

“It’s striking that if Zharia had been born in Anguilla, she would automatically be a British citizen,” he said. “Yet being born in the UK disqualifies her. That exposes the absurdity of British nationality laws and shows that little has changed since Windrush.”

He added that the contradiction between Zharia-Rae’s and her brother’s status “highlights the government’s ongoing failure to address the inequalities built into the system.”

Wider Issues with British Overseas Territories

The case also draws attention to broader tensions between the UK and its British Overseas Territories, whose citizens often face confusing and unequal treatment under British law.

Recently, Cherry Brown, a 69-year-old BOT citizen from Montserrat, was reported sleeping rough in Kent after receiving NHS bills for treatment she was told would be free.

Donaldson Romeo, an MP from Montserrat, accused the UK of treating BOT residents as “second-class citizens.”

“It’s clear that UK policy toward British Overseas Territories and Caribbean citizens often violates basic principles of fairness,” Romeo said. “The Windrush scandal should have led to deep reform, but instead we’re seeing the same failures repeated.”

Home Office Response and Calls for Reform

A spokesperson for the Home Office declined to comment on Zharia-Rae’s specific case but reiterated that “a child born in the UK will acquire British citizenship if, at the time of birth, at least one parent is a British citizen or settled in the UK.”

Campaigners, however, argue that such policies are unnecessarily complex, leaving families like Dunkley’s trapped in legal grey areas. They are now calling for a comprehensive overhaul of British nationality law, clearer guidance for NHS administrators, and stronger protections for BOT citizens residing in the UK.

“The government cannot claim to have learned from Windrush while children like Zharia-Rae are denied basic rights,” Herbert-Small said. “This is a test of whether Britain will choose compassion and fairness—or bureaucracy and exclusion.”

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