This month sees the publication of ‘Raising Children: safeguarding children in the context of deportation decision-making’. The research was conducted by academics at the University of Liverpool and the University of Birmingham, and involved looking at 15 case files from the work of Social Workers Without Borders and Bail for Immigration Detainees.
This is the first empirical study of the legal and procedural protections afforded to children with a parent facing deportation. It finds:
- Children’s welfare is routinely ignored in deportation decisions concerning a parent
- Life changing outcomes are made with little or no evidence about children’s needs
- Families spend an average of 5.2 years in deportation proceedings
- There is no official data tracking how many children are affected
- The Home Office is failing its legal duty to safeguard children
Despite clear legal protections, children are rarely consulted, rarely represented, and often made invisible even when separation causes serious harm to their wellbeing, education, and future life chances. The report recommends that children facing separation from a parent due to deportation need equitable treatment as children facing family separation in other contexts. This includes ensuring children’s welfare is independently assessed, children’s participation is facilitated by appropriate skilled professionals, and that decision-makers consider and give weight to independent, child-centred, expert evidence.
With increasing political focus on immigration enforcement and forced removal, and rhetoric about rolling back the human rights protection for family and private life, this research could not be more urgent.
