Hostile environment policy goes against Children's rights says charity

Children’s charity Project 17 has warned that the Government’s ‘hostile environment’ for migrants outweighs their commitment to children’s rights.

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on councils to safeguard the welfare of children ‘in need’ in the event that their parents are unable to access mainstream welfare support because of their immigration status.

Increasingly difficult assessment processes have been introduced to deter families from accessing section 17 support, says the charity.

According to Project 17's report Not Seen, Not Heard: Children’s experiences of the hostile environment Home Office policy has pushed the burden of supporting children living in families with no recourse to public funds onto local authorities.

"But the pressures of austerity and cuts to local authority budgets have left local authorities largely unwilling to provide such support.

"The families we work with are routinely failed by local authorities and the results are devastating."