Child First, Migrant Second: Ensuring that Every Child Matters
Author(s): H. Crawley
The politicisation of asylum and immigration policy, together with the growing use of the welfare state as a tool for controlling immigration have created a gap between family and immigration law, policy and practice. Many of those working in asylum and immigration law are unaware of the broader context of children's law and policy that they can draw upon to ensure that these children are able to access the services and care to which they are entitled under the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of recent changes in asylum and immigration (a) law and (b) practice on children subject to immigration control within the context of the Every Child Matters (ECM) framework. The paper provides an analysis of the issues facing different groups of children in the current context and the barriers that currently prevent them from getting access to the support to which they are properly entitled under the Children Act 1989 and existing legal and policy framework. The analysis of policy and practice presented in this paper suggests that despite Government reassurances that every child matters, children who are subject to immigration control are systematically excluded from some of the measures intended to deliver the outcomes associated with the ECM framework. The conclusion of the report puts an additional emphasis on the role of the social services in ensuring that all children in the UK have access to the same levels of welfare and support regardless of their immigration status. However, a statutory guardianship system and independent assessments should be established for children who are subject to immigration control in order to eradicate cases of detention and forced deportation.