The Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) has published a report which reveals that undocumented migrant children in the UK do not have access to basic services, such as adequate healthcare and education, and many live in extreme poverty. Click here to read CCLC’s report in full.
According to CCLC, the UK government's immigration policy is deliberately intended to create a “hostile” environment for undocumented migrants. The Centre notes that there is a widespread popular belief in the UK that immigration is out of control, that the State is too generous to immigrants and that the UK welfare system is a major “pull” factor for immigration to the UK. CCLC contests this belief given the lack of empirical evidence that immigrants come to the UK in order to access the welfare system.
Click here to read an EU Commission study which finds that “benefits tourism” is not a major factor in EU migration
According to CCLC’s report, consequences of this perception of immigration include a refusal to increase asylum support levels in line with inflation, removal of legal aid for most immigration cases and tightening of rules on long-term residence. Bulletin readers may recall that the UK government recently introduced an Immigration Bill which is intended to further restrict access to the National Health Service for immigrants and to add requirements that landlords verify the immigration status of all prospective tenants.
CCLC stress that the UK’s immigration policy is having a significant detrimental impact on undocumented migrant children and is at odds with the UK’s obligations under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. While the UK’s policy is designed to encourage undocumented migrants to return to their country of origin, many undocumented migrant children were born in the UK and have never known their parents’ country of origin.
Kamena Dorling, manager of the Migrant Children’s Project at CCLC, said, “Immigration enforcement must not come at the expense of damaging children's welfare or limiting access to the courts. Every child is a child first and foremost. We fear that thousands of the most vulnerable children will be hit by these measures. It is vital that the government considers the potential impact of the Bill on children and that it conducts a child impact assessment.”
The UK has faced repeated criticism for its immigration policy in recent months. In September 2013 it was revealed that 444 immigrant children have been held in detention between 2010 and 2013. Click here to read a PILA Bulletin article about this issue.