The Children’s Society is concerned about the safety of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) should the Nationality and Borders Bill become law.
The Bill was introduced in parliament this week and includes measures to deter illegal entry into the UK and strengthen powers to remove “those with no right to be here”, according to the government.
The charity warns that the plans will make it harder for UASC to appeal decisions and to be identified as a victim of human trafficking.
Age assessments will become tougher, under the legislation which will make it harder for children to prove their age.
“The Secretary of State bears a duty to safeguard the welfare of all children, yet the Bill’s reforms will endanger some of the most vulnerable children in our society,” said Children’s Society chief executive Mark Russell.
“The government seeks to penalise people who submit late evidence or appeal decisions, yet we know how challenging it is for children and young people, who have faced untold trauma and come to the UK seeking safety, to present comprehensive evidence for their cases immediately."
He added that "we know that the asylum system needs to be reformed – the young people we support have told us about the challenges they faced and how difficult it is to navigate the asylum process".
But, "instead it will make life harder for children and young people, putting them at increased risk of mental health crisis, destitution and exploitation", he said.
Other charities to voice concerns around the Bill include Refugee Action. It's chief executive Tim Naor Hilton has branded the proposed legislation “an extreme and nasty anti-refugee Bill”.
“What makes it worse is there is nothing in this legislation that increases protection, despite ministers pledging to create new routes to safety", he said.
“This is simply a crackdown on traumatised people whose only wish is to build a new life here. This lack of options will just force more people into the arms of criminal smugglers."
Meanwhile, the Refugee Council warned that more than 9,000 people who would be accepted as refugees under the current rules “would no lonter be given safety in the UK”.
Its analysis found that half of those turned down would be women and children, despite government assurances that vulnerable people wold be protected under the new rules.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Soloman said: “This anti-refugee Bill will drive an already inefficient and ineffective system into disarray with even worse delays and far greater expense.
“We need a system that gives everyone a fair hearing, protects those who need protecting and enables those to return who don’t. Competence, compassion and control are needed instead of cruelty, cold-heartedness and ineptitude.”
The government is choosing to not only turn away those in need of safety but also treat them as criminals. Everyone should be given a timely fair hearing. Competence, compassion and control are needed instead of cruelty, cold-heartedness and ineptitude. https://t.co/o2qg2XDkJX
— Enver Solomon (@EnverSol) July 6, 2021
Last week, the High Court ruled that parts of the Home Office's policy on family reunification for unaccompanied child refugees was unlawful following a legal challenge from the charity Safe Passage.
The charity’s head of legal and arrivals Jennine Walker said: “Our success in this legal challenge will offer hope to many child refugees desperate to safely reunite with their families in the UK, who were wrongly turned away by the Home Office.
“It should never have taken court action for the Home Office to decide applications fairly and lawfully, and we urge the Government to put these wrongs right by swiftly reuniting those refugee families whose applications were refused.”
