Immigration reforms leave child refugees at risk of exploitation, campaigners warn
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, March 25, 2021
The Home Secretary’s “cruel” plans to overhaul the immigration and asylum system could leave unaccompanied asylum-seeking children at increased risk of exploitation, campaigners have warned.
The new rules, which crackdown on illegal entry into the UK, limit children’s rights to be reunited with their families and include more stringent age assessments for older refugees suspected of claiming to be children, could also increase levels of self-harm and suicide among young asylum seekers, charities have warned.
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Under the plans, described by Patel as “firm but fair”, those who are assessed as being in genuine need of protection but have not arrived via the legal routes would not have immediate entry into the asylum programme.
Instead of being granted refugee status, they would receive a “new temporary protection status”, the Home Office has said.
Plans to introduce “tougher, more accurate” age assessments of asylum seekers to prevent adult migrants posing as children are also set to be introduced as well as plans for life sentences for people smugglers using small boats.
The rules have been introduced following an increase in the number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats last year.
The influx led to young people being left under the care of the Border Force after Kent Council said it was unable to look after any more unnaccompanied children.
Labour peer and former child refugee Alf Dubs has accused the Home Office of “closing the only two legal routes for refugee children stranded in Europe, including lone children and those with family here, to seek asylum in the UK”.
“This is not 'fair but firm' - it keeps families apart and lacks compassion," he said.
“Removing legal routes to safety doesn't prevent criminality - it fuels it. The day the legal routes for refugee children seeking asylum here was closed was a field day for people traffickers and smugglers who exploit despair.”
Azmina Siddique, policy and research manager at The Children’s Society, branded the plans “cruel” and said they risked discriminating against those “who are fleeing war, persecution and other serious human rights violations” but have entered the country illegally.
Siddique also warned changes to age assessments could see more children placed in adult accommodation and risks increasing mental health issues among young refugees.
She said: “Those we have supported have reported feeling depressed or struggling with their mental health when their age is questioned. Some even turn to self-harm and experience suicidal thoughts.
“We must ensure that a more ‘rigorous’ process does not increase the number of children being placed in adult accommodation and reception centres, something we understand has been happening at ports recently. We’ve seen young people mistakenly being told they are in their twenties and instantly taken away from support networks and professionals that they rely on for help. This leaves those children at heightened risk of exploitation and abuse.”