UK orders urgent investigation after Jewish birth certificate defaced

UK Home Secretary James Cleverly ordered an investigation after a Jewish couple in London had their daughter's birth certificate defaced after sending it to the Home Office during a passport application, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said on Monday.

In a post to X (formerly Twitter), the CAA announced that they had received a report from a member of the public that his daughter's birth certificate was defaced after it had been used in a passport application.

Two weeks ago, a member of the public sent off a passport application to @ukhomeoffice for his six-month-old baby girl.Today, the birth certificate was returned ripped with the word “Israel” scribbled out. The parents are understandably very concerned about this incident.We… pic.twitter.com/30bjZR7Epx

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) February 19, 2024

The birth certificate was returned with the father's birth country, Israel, scribbled out and the certificate itself ripped.

Both parents were born in Israel, but only the father's birthplace was crossed out while the mother's birthplace was not. 

The father Israel, 32, and mother Dorin, 29, said they felt like they had been targeted like "1930s Germany", telling British media "We felt as if we had been taken back to 1930's Germany where the Nazis would put notes on Jewish people's documentation."

An full investigation is needed urgently

The North London couple called on Home Secretary James Cleverly to conduct a full investigation saying "The Home Office is in charge of our safety as a minority in the UK and they deal with our most private documents but instead of sending us back the certificate in the right way someone within their system has scribbled out Israel because they have hostile feelings."

The current birth certificate is considered invalid due to the defacement and the couple will need to wait for the Home Office to send them an undefaced version.

Cleverly responded to the allegations on X saying "I have asked my officials to investigate this urgently and will see that appropriate action is taken." 

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat confirmed that an investigation was underway according to the Jewish Chronical.

This incident comes as a slew of antisemitism scandals have rocked the UK, with candidates at a by-election in the northern city of Rochdale being being suspended for claiming Benjamin Netanyahu deliberately caused the October 7 massacre to so they could "do whatever they bloody want."