Children’s watchdog rebukes Home Office plan to crackdown on refused asylum seekers

Shabana Mahmood has been told that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK, will cause “significant harm”, in an intervention by an independent watchdog. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England , said the home secretary’s plan under consultation to push families to leave the UK – including those with children receiving medical treatment – should not be implemented as proposed. She argues that the proposed changes could be in breach of the Children Act 1989, which says children’s best interests should always be at the centre of decisions about their lives. Mahmood’s proposals were set out in a Home Office consultation in March which sought views on cutting support for families with a refused asylum application, cutting support for adult care leavers with a refused asylum claim, and legislating the use of physical interventions on children during enforced removals. Rachel de Souza, children's commissioner for England: ‘The proposals will put children at risk of harm.’ Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA De Souza said: “I have a statutory duty to protect and promote the rights of children – that includes all children who arrive in this country, no matter how they get here or what their asylum status is. …