17/08/2026
BREAKING: New figures reveal that of 304 people whose age was disputed under the UK-France deal, 94 — almost one in three — were later found to be children, according to the Home Office’s own data.
And the concerns don’t stop there. People have reportedly been detained for months, faced removal despite serious health needs, and been separated from family members they travelled with.
For unaccompanied children, safe routes to the UK are already extremely limited. The suspension of refugee family reunion — a route relied on particularly by women and children — has made reaching safety even harder. And when children do reach the UK, often after surviving dangerous journeys, their safety is put at risk all over again by a system that fails to recognise them as children. A system that cannot reliably recognise a child cannot claim to be keeping children safe.
We have been clear: unaccompanied children must never be detained or returned to France under this scheme. They should be protected, not excluded — including by giving them access to the admissions route from France to the UK.
But safeguards alone aren’t enough. Protection should never be transactional. We need accessible, expansive safe routes that put protection — not deterrence — first.
