Outrage over deportation plans for Afghan child asylum seekers

The government is reported to be planning a £4m "reintegration centre" in Kabul, which would provide supervised accommodation to 16- and 17-year-old boys. A tender for the centre suggests the government is planning to send back 12 boys a month.

But Caroline Slocock, chief executive of Refugee and Migrant Justice, said forcibly removing children and returning them to Afghanistan will put them at risk.

She said: "This reception centre would apparently cost £4m — a huge price in an already wasteful and inefficient asylum system. That money would be better spent providing the right support for asylum-seeking children in this country.

"We work with many children who have fled Afghanistan in fear to seek protection in the UK. They have often endured long, arduous and dangerous journeys to get here, and forcibly removing them to Kabul is likely to put their safety and welfare further at risk."

The Children's Legal Centre said it fears the plans are being made without sufficient attention given to the best interests of children in a bid to deter future asylum applications. 

Kamena Dorling, legal and policy officer for the Migrant Children's Project at the Children's Legal Centre, said: "If a child has no family to whom they can be returned safely, then it is difficult to see how returning them alone to Kabul will be in line with the UK Border Agency's duty, under the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, to ‘safeguard and promote the welfare' of that child."

Immigration minister Damian Green said different options were being discussed to ensure young men going back to their home countries are given appropriate support.

He said: "No one should be encouraging children to make dangerous journeys across the world. Therefore, we are looking to work with other European countries, such as Norway, and valued international partners, such as Unicef, as well as the Afghan government to find ways to help these young men in their home countries and to return those who are in the UK safely to their home nations with appropriate support once they arrive."