Children born in the UK to refugee parents could face deportation | Politics | News
Children born to refugee parents in the UK could face deportation amid Shabana Mahmood’s asylum crackdown, according to reports.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs told Times It was stated that if their refugee status is revoked, the children will have to leave the country with their parents.
A source told the newspaper the move ensured there were no “false incentives” for refugees to have children “on the basis that they can stay” in the UK.
The Home Secretary was accused of “using children as weapons” by Lord Dubs, who came to Britain as a child after escaping the Nazis, to make the country less attractive to refugees.
The Home Office will set out changes to how a child born to refugees in the UK can apply for settled status “in due course”. Times in question.
Labour’s plans include reducing the amount of time refugees are initially given to stay in the UK from five to a 30-month “essential protection” system; this system can only be renewed if it is not safe for them to return.
Refugees will have to spend 20 years in the UK instead of five before being allowed to apply for settled status.
There will be no automatic right to family reunification for refugees under basic protection.
Asylum seekers will no longer be guaranteed housing and a weekly allowance, and those who can work or have valuable assets will have to contribute to their expenses in the UK.
Families with children may also be subject to mandatory returns as part of measures to remove people who have no right to be in the UK.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the measures did not go far enough, adding that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights was necessary to solve the problem.
He said: “The truth is that we have looked at this issue from every possible angle and the truth is that any plan that does not include leaving the ECHR as a necessary step is a waste of time we do not have.”
