The UK government has recently announced proposed changes to family returns and asylum support policy, which may include plans to forcibly remove child asylum seekers in handcuffs.[1]
KIND’s partner Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) – one of our five expert partners in the UK – has warned that these proposals “represent an unprecedented attack on children’s rights in the UK and will only lead to fear, destitution, homelessness, violence and misery.”[2]
They follow sweeping changes to refugee and settlement policy announced over last year, including plans to extend routes to settlement to a default 10 years, with 15, 20 and 30 year routes for some, and replacing refugee status with a less secure “core protection” status which requires reassessment and renewal every 2.5 years, and a 20 year wait for the possibility of settlement, and can be revoked if someone’s home country is judged to be “safe.”[3]
The latest proposed changes include making support harder to access for families who have been refused asylum, removing support from some young people who have grown up in care (including former unaccompanied children), and changing rules around family removals to allow the use of physical force against children, including by officers who are not trained in working with children and who are not wearing cameras.[4]
GMIAU says these changes must be resisted “in their entirety”, and raises concerns that they “could lead to families and young people being left homeless, denied any safety net, and children being handcuffed and detained by immigration officers.”[5]
GMIAU emphasises that “enforcing removals is not a legitimate reason to disregard children’s rights and best interests,” and highlights the large body of evidence detailing the “long-lasting trauma and distress that is caused to children” by the use physical restraint and physical force, detention and separation from parents or other family members.[5]
KIND echoes the concerns raised by our partner GMIAU, and is deeply concerned particularly about the devastating effect the proposed changes could have on children and young people’s rights and wellbeing.
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Sources:
[2] https://gmiau.org/guide-to-the-family-returns-consultation/
[3] https://gmiau.org/april-2026-update/
[4] https://gmiau.org/family-returns-consultation-local-authority-briefing/
[5] https://gmiau.org/guide-to-the-family-returns-consultation/
[6] https://gmiau.org/guide-to-the-family-returns-consultation/
