Rights and Security International

We launched our new website today! Check out our website and our more about our work at: www.rightsandsecurity.org

What might disqualify you?
❌ Unpaid NHS bills
❌ Being “associated” with someone under suspicion
❌ Past minor offences, even if “spent”
❌ “Notoriety” — or having a media presence

Read our report on the good character requirement: lnkd.in/e3jkWJfT

Many assume that British citizenship is a right after years of living, working, and contributing to the UK. But the government's ‘good character’ requirement tells a different story. The term is legally undefined — giving the Home Secretary wide discretion.

Read the full report here: www.rightsandsecurity.org/impact/entry...

We found evidence that the Home Office is applying the requirement in a way that disproportionately impacts not only people from the Windrush generation – many of whom are Black or Asian – but also Muslims and people from Muslim-majority countries.

‘Good character’ is not defined in UK nationality law, and although Home Office caseworkers have detailed guidance for assessing applications, the Home Secretary has total discretion to grant or refuse citizenship to people on this basis.

In the report, we conclude that the UK adopted and then maintained the ‘good character’ requirement precisely because it allows for subjective and potentially discriminatory decision-making – and not in spite of those risks.

Parliament has imposed the ‘good character’ requirement through varying, but always vague, laws since 1915, and those laws continue to impact thousands of people today, including children from the age of 10 and members of the Windrush generation.

On 21 July 2025, Rights & Security International releases ‘A second-class citizen in fact’: The racist roots and ongoing harms of the UK’s ‘good character’ requirement to naturalise as a British citizen, a research report into the UK’s ‘good character’ requirement for becoming a British citizen.

Don't forget to join this event happening this Sunday!

Ballymena statement: Calling out racism in Northern Ireland

RSI has viewed the racist violence in Ballymena and other areas of Northern Ireland over recent days with alarm.

Read full statement: www.rightsandsecurity.org/impact/entry...

Ofsted criticised over training manual linking autistic children to extremism National Autistic Society says guidance risks stigmatising traits amid concern over number of autistic children referred to Prevent

“It could also lead to a feedback loop in which autistic children are increasingly over-policed, with lasting consequences.”

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Ofsted criticised over training manual linking autistic children to extremism National Autistic Society says guidance risks stigmatising traits amid concern over number of autistic children referred to Prevent

“Instead, the Ofsted trainings draw a target on autistic children based on what look to us like sweeping and simplistic statements. This could amount to direct and illegal discrimination...

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Ofsted criticised over training manual linking autistic children to extremism National Autistic Society says guidance risks stigmatising traits amid concern over number of autistic children referred to Prevent

Sarah St Vincent, the executive director of RSI, which obtained the document through a freedom of information request, said: “The government has not shown that autistic children are any more likely to pose a serious threat of violence than anyone else is.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Ofsted criticised over training manual linking autistic children to extremism National Autistic Society says guidance risks stigmatising traits amid concern over number of autistic children referred to Prevent

A training manual used to teach hundreds of school inspectors also claims that children who are autistic are “more likely to develop special interests” and “can be drawn into extremism” as a result.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Ofsted criticised over training manual linking autistic children to extremism National Autistic Society says guidance risks stigmatising traits amid concern over number of autistic children referred to Prevent

Ofsted, the body responsible for safeguarding in education in England, has been accused of “offensive” and “clumsy” discrimination after telling inspectors that children with autism are “at increased risk of being susceptible to extremism”.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

These deeply flawed practices – showing a seeming indifference to potential ableism, racism, Islamophobia and other discrimination – have persisted for years.

Read more:
www.rightsandsecurity.org/impact/entry...

These documents also point to incoherent and, in our view, careless approaches to assessing Prevent’s other equality impacts, particularly where race and religion are concerned.

New government documents obtained by Rights & Security International (RSI) show what we believe is an incoherent and underinformed approach among officials toward the referral of autistic people to the Prevent and Channel counter-terrorism programmes.

Abolishing Prevent: A Community Day of Action and Organising Join us for a day of action and workshops to resist Prevent. Co-hosted by Amnesty, Liberty, Maslaha, MedAct, No More Exclusions and RSI.

Abolishing Prevent: A Community Day of Action and Organising 💥📣

🗓️ Sunday 29th June, 10:30am - 5pm
📍 The Advocacy Academy, London

Join us for a day of conversation and workshops, as we build a community able to resist the racist Prevent duty ⬇️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/abolishing...

Further evidence that Prevent is a flawed programme that harms and discrimates against people who are vulnerable.

Prevent ‘could be breaching UK equality laws’ over treatment of autistic people Charity ‘deeply concerned’ about neurodivergent people, who it says are being over-reported to the deradicalisation scheme

The letter states that a 2021 internal Home Office analysis obtained under the Freedom of Information Act found that more than a quarter of those receiving deradicalisation support from the Channel programme had either been diagnosed or had a suspected diagnosis of autism.

Prevent ‘could be breaching UK equality laws’ over treatment of autistic people Charity ‘deeply concerned’ about neurodivergent people, who it says are being over-reported to the deradicalisation scheme

There are concerns that autistic people are being referred to the authorities because of a lack of healthcare provision.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Prevent ‘could be breaching UK equality laws’ over treatment of autistic people Charity ‘deeply concerned’ about neurodivergent people, who it says are being over-reported to the deradicalisation scheme

In a pre-action letter to the Home Office, RSI said it was “deeply concerned about a potential ongoing failure to collect and analyse data on the protected characteristics of those referred to Prevent and that this constitutes an ongoing failure to comply with their public sector equality duty”.

Ruth ha expuesto valientemente la corrupción y las violaciones de derechos humanos bajo el gobierno de Bukele. Su detención es alarmante y no debe ser ignorada.

Hacemos un llamado a las autoridades de El Salvador para que revelen inmediatamente su ubicación y garanticen el acceso a sus abogados y familiares.

Rights and Security International está profundamente preocupada por la detención de Ruth López, destacada defensora de derechos humanos salvadoreña y jefa de Anticorrupción en Cristosal. Ruth se encuentra en paradero deconocido desde el sábado.

We call on El Salvador's authorities to immediately disclose her location and ensure access to her lawyers and family. Ruth has bravely exposed corruption and human rights violations under the Bukele government. Her detention is alarming and must not go ignored.
#WhereIsRuth #ElSalvador #HumanRights

Rights and Security International is deeply concerned about the detention of Ruth López, prominent Salvadoran human rights defender and head of Anti-Corruption at Cristosal. Her whereabouts remain unknown since Saturday.

We are honoured to join the dedicated network of practitioners and groups in Northern Ireland working to fill critical gaps in an underserved region.

Everyone deserves a stable and secure life - and we are here to help make that a reality.