Feb 1, 2019

‘Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Identity, Care and Justice’ Launch

We had the immense pleasure of being hosted by Lord Alf Dubs in a House of Lords committee room at the Palace of Westminster last night for the launch of the Policy Press title Unaccompanied Migrants: Identity, Care and Justice, edited by Sue Clayton, Katie Willis and Anna Gupta.

The event saw a host of voices from across sociology, social work, law, geography and psychology come together, alongside policy-makers and House of Lords peers, to discuss the UK’s responsibility to protect the dignity and human rights of unaccompanied migrant children who reach our shores in search of protection, stability and hope for a better future.

“It is important for countries like this to take our fair share of refugees”, Lord Alf Dubs.

In 2016, the Dubs Amendment to the Immigration Act saw the UK government promise to accept 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children, a guarantee that was repeatedly watered down and has ultimately been left unfulfilled in what last night’s speaker’s agreed was “a legal, humanitarian and human outrage”. 

A key take-away from the event was the emphasis that all of the night’s speakers placed upon preserving migrant children’s sense of hope and the need for the UK government to realise their duty to provide the space and secure the services that protects the hopes of these children whilst promising them a brighter future.

Featuring a foreword by Lord Alf Dubs, Unaccompanied Migrant Children: Identity, Care and Justice provides a multi-disciplinary perspective on the experiences of unaccompanied migrant children as they negotiate the UK immigration and care systems. It calls for a more holistic and integrated approach towards their care and challenges the deficiencies in current policies and practices that prioritise their status as migrants over their status as children.

We are also proud to have produced a policy-briefing in conjunction with the book’s editors which outlines 12 recommendations for policy change. See their recommendations here.