The house secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has introduced plans for the largest overhaul of the United Kingdom asylum machine in a long time. Probably the most cruelest grievance of the proposals has come from Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, a former kid refugee who got here to Britain at the Kindertransport from Prague in 1939. He has stated that the house secretary is looking for to “use children as a weapon”.
There’s a lengthy historical past of refugee kids turning into ethical touchstones in debates round asylum. For instance, footage of the frame of Syrian infant Alan Kurdi, throughout the 2015 so-called refugee disaster, had been a catalyst for an extraordinary outpouring of compassion amongst media, the general public and politicians.
Within the 12 months finishing June 2025, there have been 88,738 asylum packages to the United Kingdom in terms of 111,084 folks. Of those, 15,123 had been kid dependents (kids who’re integrated on a father or mother’s asylum software).
Different kids input thru circle of relatives reunion visas as soon as their father or mother has received refugee standing. In 2024, 10,728 circle of relatives reunion visas had been granted to kids below the age of 18. On the other hand in September 2025, within the face of rising public discontent with the asylum machine, the federal government paused new packages for circle of relatives reunion from refugees.
Underneath the brand new plans, refugees might not be allowed to use for circle of relatives reunion, except they can switch to a piece or find out about visa.
Disposing of fortify
The United Kingdom these days has a felony accountability to offer lodging to asylum seekers who would in a different way be destitute. The federal government argues that this incentivises folks to make bad trips around the English Channel, together with with small children and youngsters.
Labour minister Steve Reed has claimed that the brand new machine would take away such incentives and save lives. This can be a acquainted justification for restrictive asylum insurance policies and an instance of what I name “compassionate refusals”, wherein politicians argue that the elimination of fortify or the infliction of punitive measures will alleviate struggling or steer clear of long run struggling.
The House Place of business says that the present machine permits folks to “exploit the fact that they have had children and put down roots in order to thwart removal”.
These days, destitute households with kids who’re refused asylum and feature exhausted their attraction rights can proceed to obtain lodging and fundamental monetary fortify. Underneath the brand new plans, the House Place of business will glance to take away monetary fortify from households who’ve been refused asylum, even supposing they’ve kids.
The house secretary, Shabana Mahmood, says the asylum overhaul will take away incentives for folks to move the English Channel in small boats.
Zeynep Demir Aslim/Shutterstock
Probably the most vital trade seems to be within the executive’s option to removals. These days, households aren’t prioritised via the federal government for deportation. “Our hesitancy around returning families creates particularly perverse incentives,” the proposals say. “To some, the personal benefit of placing a child on a dangerous small boat outweighs the considerable risks of doing so.”
Underneath the plans, folks refused asylum, together with kids, may well be deported in the event that they fail to depart voluntarily.
For households who’re granted asylum, the proposals additionally introduce a brand new stage of uncertainty. Refugee standing might be reassessed each and every 30 months, with the potential for being returned to their nation of beginning whether it is deemed secure. Some should wait twenty years as an alternative of the present 5 years earlier than they are able to observe for agreement.
Which means refugees delivered to the United Kingdom as kids may are living their complete childhoods in Britain with out a ensure that they’re going to stay within the position they’ve come to think about as house.
Facial popularity
Particular measures additionally center of attention on unaccompanied kid asylum candidates. Within the 12 months finishing June 2025, 3,553 unaccompanied kids carried out for asylum. They’re sorted via native government in foster care, or shared semi-independent lodging with social paintings fortify.
A routine facet of dialogue over asylum has to do with arrivals who’re age disputed – this is, those that declare to be below 18, however is also older. The idea is they declare to be more youthful to take a look at to get admission to brief go away to stay, products and services and fortify supplied to minors. Within the 12 months finishing June 2024, 6,270 age disputes had been raised.
Underneath the brand new asylum plan, younger folks whose age is disputed might be subjected to facial age estimation era. This era makes use of synthetic intelligence to estimate the age of the younger individual, regardless of issues about its accuracy.
This factor of age disputes has been below common media scrutiny, maximum particularly when 220 kids had been transferred to the United Kingdom in past due 2016 from Calais. As those (predominantly teenage) boys arrived in Britain, media headlines disputed their age, specializing in look comparable to facial hair and manner. Such an way can fortify Eurocentric understandings of age, and forget about the toll that struggle and hard trips tackle our bodies and behavior.
Consistent with present House administrative center steering, when claiming asylum, if the younger individual claims to be a minor they must be handled as such except their bodily look and manner very strongly suggests they’re considerably over the of 18. There have prior to now been calls to make use of invasive or discredited strategies of age checking out comparable to dental examinations and bone scans.
These days, if a teenager is age disputed, they’re normally referred to the native authority who conducts a holistic age overview. This takes under consideration look, manner, paperwork, the younger individual’s personal account and observations via adults running with them, amongst different proof. Given the uncertainties over using AI, introducing this era to the age choice procedure is not going to unravel the present demanding situations.
