News and Updates

For the latest news stories on migration, please visit the news section of our website. For the stories relating specifically to UASC from the last 6 months, please see below.

23 March 2026

• A leading children’s rights organisation has warned government plans to activate parts of the Immigration Act 2016 would leave many unaccompanied care leavers with no secure immigration status and without essential support when they turn 18, increasing risk of homelessness, destitution and exploitation. (Source: ECPAT UK) 

16 March 2026

• Leading charities are urging the next Scottish Parliament to recognise unaccompanied children primarily as ‘looked after children’ rather than through the lens of immigration control. (Source: Morning Star) 

• A recent UNICEF briefing highlights the rising number of children on the move globally and calls for stronger protection systems. (Source: UNICEF) 

09 March 2026

• A young refugee who experienced homelessness and attacks following the Home Office’s 28-day move-on period was part of a legal case that successfully challenged implementation of the policy, which should allow discretion where a person is at risk of homelessness. (Source: the Guardian) 

23 February 2026

• A partnership of universities urges exemptions from the international student levy for PhD students, fully funded scholars and short-term exchange visitors, arguing these measures are needed to protect research talent and minimise harm to universities. (Source: Russell Group)  
• A coalition of refugee and children’s organisations has called for the Home Office National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) to be disbanded. The group argues that the NAAB is traumatising young people who seek asylum, wrongly classifying many as adults, and putting children at serious risk. (Source: the Guardian) 

16 February 2026

• Lord Dubs has condemned the Home Secretary’s approach to children seeking asylum abroad who are trying to reunite with their families in the UK. (Source: the Guardian) 
• The Hong Kong BN(O) visa route is expanding to allow those who were children at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China, who do not themselves have BN(O) status, to apply for the visa independently of their eligible parents. An estimated additional 26,000 people could arrive in the UK as the result. (Source: Home Office) 

02 February 2026

• The Home Office has introduced a pilot allowing eligible 16- and 17-year-old asylum seekers to proceed to a substantive interview without submitting a Statement of Evidence (SEF) form, if they have legal representation and have consented to take part. (Source: UK Visas and Immigration) 

26 January 2026

• Young people who have been through the UK asylum system talk about the importance of access to education and how this impacts their prospects; the article includes the story of a young woman placed in an asylum hotel in Yorkshire. Relatedly, a Birmingham school describes how they support young refugees with an intensive English course and related activities prior to entering the mainstream system. (Source: ITV news)  
• Research by a teacher in Lebanon shows supportive, high-quality education can transform the resilience and motivation of Syrian refugee students during conflict. (Source: The Northern Echo) 

08 December 2025

• The Upper Tribunal has issued one of the first rulings overturning an age assessment by the Home Office’s National Age Assessment Board. (Source: Doughty Street Chambers)

01 December 2025

• This article examines how proposed asylum policy changes create uncertainty and present further risks to already vulnerable children. (Source: The Conversation) 
• This data report highlights the ongoing issue of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and child victims of trafficking going missing from care, with policy, systemic failures and inadequate safeguarding exacerbating the problem. (Source: ECPAT UK) 
• The Ukrainecast podcast featured a special episode for World Children’s Day answering schoolchildren’s questions and hearing stories from Ukrainian children in Kyiv and in the UK. (Source: BBC, 38 minutes) 
• In anticipation of a UK child poverty strategy, this article calls for linkage to migration policy, specifically the No Recourse to Public Funds policy. (Source: The Conversation) 

10 November 2025

• A freedom of information request revealed more than 50 unaccompanied children remain missing from Kent, after being placed in reception centres and hotels over the last five years. (Source: the Guardian)
• Lord Dubs proposed an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to allow parents with protection status to reunite with their children who are outside the UK, but this was not taken forward by the House of Lords. (Sources: Politics Home, UK Parliament)
• This updated legal briefing outlines options for children in care to regularise their immigration status. (Source: Free Movement)