The Dubs Amendment (section 67) to the Immigration Act 2016 (Immigration Act), named after sponsor Lord Alf Dubs, required the UK Secretary of State to “make arrangements to relocate to the UK and support a specified number” of child refugees from Europe. The law represented an effort to protect lone refugee children making the passage to Britain during the migrant crisis that Europe faced in the last decade. The scheme has now ended, with 480 child refugees being accepted into the UK. Lord Dubs himself came to the UK as a child refugee fleeing the Nazis, which shows the important impact of schemes like this to create safety for unaccompanied child refugees. 

CHILD REFUGEE PROTECTION IN THE UK AND THE TURBULENT HISTORY OF THE SCHEME

The legal framework for the Immigration Act is based on the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides a definition of an adult refugee and the standard of treatment they should receive in the signature countries. The 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees removed temporal and geographic restrictions on the definition of a refugee in the original Convention. In the context of child refugees, this framework is reinforced by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international treaty that sets out the rights of children. The UK became a signatory to the CRC 19 April 1990. The UK is also subject to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects family reunification under article 8, setting out the right to family and private life, as seen in the UK case of AT and another (2016).

When the Dubs Amendment was introduced in 2016, it was rejected by the House of Commons, only to then be accepted after a further vote in the House of Lords. The accepted version stated that a “specified number” of unaccompanied children would be accepted into the UK – not the 3,000 intended by Lord Dubs. The Government then only accepted 350 unaccompanied child refugees (later increased to 480) of the 3,000 hoped, making it clear that the Dubs Amendment was not fulfilling the aims as planned. Despite this, then-Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill claimed that the 350 figure met “the intention and spirit” of the Amendment. 

In February 2017, the Home Office abandoned the scheme after the acceptance of 350 children, claiming that there were “no more spaces...available to accommodate them,” though local councils disputed this. This shows the true problem with the nature of the Amendment – it was enacted inadequately by the Government, making it unable to achieve its intention of allowing 3,000 child refugees a safe way to Britain. Lord Dubs stated the Government had “gone back on their word,” showing his disappointment at the ending of the scheme in 2017 and the abandoning of his 3,000 figure aim.

The failure of the Amendment caused great controversy, leading to the country’s High Court hearing a case by the charity Help Refugees against the Government’s failures with the scheme. The Court of Appeal then ruled in 2018 that the Government acted unlawfully in not providing reasons for refusing refugee children entry to Britain under the Dubs Amendment.

AN OPTIMISTIC DEVELOPMENT

In January 2020, though, Lord Dubs brought the scheme back in the European Union (EU) Bill (Withdrawal Agreement). The aim was for the UK to come to an agreement with the EU to protect the rights and safety of child refugees after Brexit. “Under EU law, a lone child has the right to be reunited with relatives who live in any member state” under the principle of family reunification. Such reunification is one of the main reasons for immigration into the EU. Post-Brexit, the UK would no longer have the obligation to comply with the EU’s laws on family reunification. The proposal was ultimately agreed upon, providing a safe and legal route for refugee children–at least those with family members in the country–to  come to the UK.

THE END OF THE SCHEME – WHAT NOW?

Now, the 480 places are filled, meaning the scheme under the UK’s Dubs Amendment has ended despite thousands of refugees “remaining stranded”. There is no other legal route that provides the same protection for unaccompanied children from Europe who may not have relatives in Britain. This proves dangerous. Beth Gardiner-Smith, the chief executive of Safe Passage, a charity that fights for migrant justice by helping child refugees reach safety, stated, “there’s a real risk more children will be pushed into the hands of smugglers or risk their lives in dangerous crossings”. This concern is supported by the continuous increase in children trafficked into modern slavery in the UK, with The Independent reporting in 2019 that child slavery cases in the UK were up by “nearly 800% in two years”.

In light of this reality, there have been calls for the UK to accept more child refugees into its borders. A long-term scheme that provides consistent help for lone child refugees in Europe who may not have relatives in Britain to make passage to Britain legally, and without risking their lives, is necessary.

Rebecca is a first year MLaw student at Northumbria University. She is interested in writing about human rights law in order to raise awareness about important issues and achieve progress through activism and advocating for the rights of others.

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