The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, has called for greater protection of refugee and asylum-seeking children, warning that children wrongly treated as adults and placed in detention or adult accommodation represent a “shocking failure” of the asylum system.
Speaking at the inaugural JRS UK Annual Lecture in London on 24 September, chaired by presenter Julie Etchingham, Dame Rachel challenged policymakers and the wider public to place children at the centre of conversations about migration, and to resist the increasingly polarised rhetoric surrounding people seeking sanctuary.
Drawing parallels between anti-migrant unrest in London more than 500 years ago and hostility towards migrants today, she argued that many of the narratives used against newcomers have changed remarkably little over time.
“It’s easy, from a distance, to talk about asylum seekers as strangers. It is much harder, and much more important, to remember that we are talking about children.”
Drawing on her work as Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel reflected on visits to migrant processing facilities and asylum accommodation, where she has met children who have experienced violence, exploitation and trafficking on their journeys to the UK.
A particular focus of her lecture was the treatment of young people whose ages are disputed by authorities. Citing recent data, she said that of 1,897 people assessed as adults over a six-month period, 442 decisions were later overturned, with hundreds of cases still awaiting resolution.
Describing the consequences of incorrect age assessments, she warned that children can be wrongly placed in immigration detention or accommodated alongside unrelated adults.
Dame Rachel also called for greater scrutiny of policies affecting refugee and migrant children, arguing that good policymaking depends on a clear understanding of how many children will be impacted by government decisions.
At the heart of her lecture was a call for honesty and compassion in public debate about migration.
“We cannot live by lies,” she said. “We have a duty to what is good, and what is true.”
“Supporting refugees means acknowledging the problems but also the benefits. It means acknowledging the need for integration, for social harmony, and then making the case for the material base needed for this to happen.”
The lecture also included a personal reflection on Dame Rachel’s own family history. Her mother arrived in post-war Europe as a refugee child and was cared for by Catholic sisters in Bavaria before eventually reuniting with family in England.
Dame Rachel concluded by returning to The Stranger’s Case, the celebrated appeal often associated with William Shakespeare’s portrayal of St Thomas More, which asks audiences to imagine themselves forced from their homeland and dependent on the welcome of strangers.
Addressing those accompanying and supporting refugees, she urged listeners to remain committed to truth and solidarity.
“Let us always live in truth. Truth about the children we help. Truth about what they need. Truth about who they are. And truth about the moral requirement to support them,” she said. “Let us never forget the stranger’s case.”
The inaugural JRS UK Annual Lecture brought together supporters, partners, and people working alongside refugees to reflect on the challenges facing people seeking sanctuary in the UK and the values that should shape society’s response.
Read our coverage in The Mirror
