Medical Justice joined nearly 150 children’s charities and organisations working with children in writing to the Prime Minister to warn that recently announced Home Office proposals to radically overhaul the immigration and asylum systems would put hundreds of thousands of children, as well as young adults leaving care, at risk.
The groups condemned new ‘use of force’ plans as part of changes to the Family Returns policy currently under consultation, which risk causing distress, trauma and lasting emotional damage to children. These proposals pave the way for children to be handcuffed or physically handled onto removal flights in circumstances such as “a parent refusing to release a child’s hand” during attempts to forcibly remove them from the UK. For the government to describe such harm to children as “unfortunate but necessary and justified” is abhorrent.
If the government proceeds with these plans they will be overturning the longstanding policy against the use of force on children for the purposes of removal, which was reinstated following legal action which Medical Justice contributed to in 2013.
The impact of immigration detention and the risks around the use of force on children have been long-established. Research published by Medical Justice highlighted the impact of excessive use of force on families, including five alleged assaults on children themselves. Further research demonstrated the physical and psychological harms to children caused and aggravated by immigration detention.
The joint letter also highlights ‘earned settlement’ proposals, which could trap as many as 90,000 children already living in the UK in poverty and keep children in prolonged limbo, as well as moves to make refugee status temporary and make it easier to withdraw financial support from families and young people leaving care who have been refused asylum.
The groups criticise as “reprehensible” recent suggestions in Home Office policy documents that migrant parents may be “exploit[ing] the fact that they have had children” or seeking a “personal benefit” from migrating irregularly with children.
The letter concludes: “We urge you to change course, and create policy that reflects simple facts we all know to be true. Children who grow up here belong here. Children need stability and certainty to thrive. Care leavers deserve love, special care and a clear path to a future. And we must do everything in our power to prevent children from experiencing homelessness, distress and trauma. We urge you to put the welfare and rights of children at the heart of asylum and migration policy.”
Read the full letter here
The letter has received attention in the media, including coverage in the Mirror and the Independent newspapers.
