Children’s watchdog rebukes Home Office plan to crackdown on refused asylum seekers

Proposals including use of force on minors will cause ‘significant harm’, says England Children’s Commissioner

Shabana Mahmood has been told that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK, will cause “significant harm”, in an intervention by an independent watchdog.

Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said the home secretary’s plan under consultation to push families – including those with children receiving ongoing medical treatment – to leave the UK should not be implemented as proposed.