Charities warn of ‘sustained attack on children’s rights’ in new migration proposals

A coalition of children’s charities, social work organisations and migrant rights groups has warned that proposed changes to the UK’s immigration and asylum system amount to a “sustained attack on children’s rights”.

In a joint letter to the Prime Minister, 148 organisations — including the British Association of Social Workers, Children's Rights Alliance for England, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights), The Fostering Network and ECPAT UK — say the reforms risk undermining the safety and wellbeing of children across the UK.

Setting out their concerns, the signatories wrote: "We are deeply concerned that proposed radical overhauls of the immigration system and routes to settlement, as well as drastic changes to the asylum system, family returns and asylum support provision, will threaten the safety and security of hundreds of thousands of children in the UK."

Central to the concerns are proposals around “earned settlement”, which campaigners say could leave up to 90,000 children already living in the UK trapped in poverty and prolonged uncertainty. Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, Head of Advocacy at Praxis, warned: "Current immigration and asylum policy threatens to keep thousands of children in poverty and risks creating even more homeless families. We call on the Government to change course and meaningfully include all children in its child poverty and homelessness strategies."

Groups also point to plans to make refugee status temporary and to make it easier to withdraw financial support from families and young people leaving care whose asylum claims have been refused, raising concerns about long-term instability for children growing up in the UK. Kamena Dorling, co-chair of the Refugee and Migrant Children's Consortium, said: "The proposed changes to asylum, removals and settlement raise profound questions about children's rights and welfare and risk undermining the Government's ambitions for the next generation. Every child deserves to grow up safe and secure, knowing they have a stable home, a community to belong in, and a stable path through education."

She added: "No child should be facing poverty, homelessness, constant uncertainty about their future, or the terrifying prospect of being handcuffed or physically dragged onto a removal flight.

"The Government must undertake and publish a Child Rights Impact Assessment as soon as possible to ensure any changes to migration policy do not put the rights and welfare of any children at risk."

Amina Khanom, Director of Reset Communities for Refugees, drew on her own experience to underline the importance of stability:

"I migrated to the UK as a child and grew up in poverty, so I know how critical stability and security are to a child's future. These proposals risk taking that away from hundreds of thousands of children, forcing them to grow up with uncertainty and fear."

She added: "Every child deserves the chance to feel safe, settled and able to plan for their future. We advocate for welcome, not hardship."

Particular alarm has been raised over proposals currently under consultation that would allow the use of force during removals. Campaigners described provisions that could see children handcuffed or physically handled onto flights — including situations involving “a parent refusing to release a child's hand” — as “abhorrent”. Rita Waters, Group CEO of the National Youth Advocacy Service, said: "The National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) has always been a children's rights charity, and that means every single child, regardless of their different journeys and life experiences, is entitled to equal respect, dignity and protection."

She added: "To us there can be no justification for threatening or treating a child forcefully, denying them their family rights, or withdrawing their rights as care leavers, just because their life journey may be different to others.

"Either we treat every child as equally special and deserving of our protection, or we become a place that would wrestle and handcuff a child who can't bring themselves to let go of their parent's hand as they are being pulled apart."

The organisations also criticised language in Home Office policy documents suggesting migrant parents may be “exploit[ing] the fact that they have had children” or seeking a “personal benefit” from migrating irregularly with children, describing such claims as “reprehensible”.

Legal practitioners say the proposals are already causing anxiety among families and young people. Andy Sirel, Legal Director at JustRight Scotland, said: "Every week we have families and young people contact us, worried about their futures. They are trying to understand how their lives will be affected by the current government's proposals, and why."

He added: "That question is key: why? What goal is punishing children achieving? We have clients who arrived as children, have immigration status, and are trying to get on with their lives, who will be in their 30s and 40s before they qualify for settlement. How does that achieve integration?"

The letter concludes with a direct appeal to ministers to rethink the direction of policy: "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."