Court set to hear argument Home Secretary neglected her commitment under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016
The Guardian reported yesterday that 36 child asylum seekers who previously lived in the Calais 'Jungle' refugee camp have launched a legal challenge against the Home Office.
Image credit: WikipediaAccording to BBC News, the children are seeking a judicial review in the High Court early in the new year.
The Guardian says the court is set to hear the argument that the Home Secretary acted unlawfully in the way she handled their asylum applications and neglected her commitment under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, the so-called Dubs amendment.
Twenty-eight of the children had their asylum applications rejected, while the remaining eight are still awaiting their determinations. All of the children (said to be aged between 11 and 17) were dispersed across France after French authorities demolished the Calais 'Jungle' camp in October.
According to the Guardian, the judicial review will focus on the specific circumstances of one 14-year-old boy from Afghanistan, represented by Duncan Lewis Solicitors, as well as on the broader issues affecting all of the children.
Duncan Lewis' Toufique Hossain told the Guardian: "The government has rendered these children, including some as young as 13, to effectively be without any legal remedy until well into the new year, which is the earliest that the relevant Home Office officials have agreed to give reasons for refusing some of these children.
"The way that this has all been handled by both the UK and French authorities is nothing short of shameful. It is morally reprehensible and, we argue, simply unlawful that these children have not been given written reasons as to why their applications were refused and that these children were told about the refusals in group meetings without a proper procedure in place."
In response, a Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian: "It would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings."
BBC News noted that the Government pointed out that 900 child refugees had been transferred to the UK in 2016.