London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025

Child asylum seekers 'falling apart' due to Home Office delays

Child asylum seekers 'falling apart' due to Home Office delays

Halt to interviews in March last year due to Covid has had ‘devastating emotional impact’, social workers say
Children are emotionally and physically falling apart because the UK asylum system ground to a halt during the pandemic, according to social workers and charities.

Young people who have arrived in the UK on their own have faced huge delays in receiving an asylum decision as the Home Office system for interviewing children largely ground to a halt last March, resulting in a “devastating emotional impact”.

These delays have had severe repercussions on their mental and physical health, including reports of self-harm, insomnia and stress-related disorders such as hair loss and painful skin conditions, a report shows.

For children, the usual procedure would include two interviews before a decision from the Home Office. The system has been suspended from March 2020 for nearly all cases due to Covid restrictions, despite interviews for adults restarting last summer. After a pilot programme of conducting interviews remotely began in Kent, the Home Office said it hoped to roll these out nationally, but only has 37 out of 343 of local authorities in England have signed up. Over the last two weeks children in some areas have received dates for remote interviews.

According to Home Office statistics, 2,868 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in 2020. The government’s own guidance recognises that these children are among the most vulnerable in the country.

A report from the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) calls for the Home Office to make decisions on all children’s asylum claims without interviews where possible and expedite the system for remote interviews, saying it is “inhumane” to expect them to wait any longer.

The report describes one child supported by the service who has been stuck in limbo awaiting a decision for more than a year and a half. In Greater Manchester the average time is 410 days. A previous target of six months for processing asylum claims was scrapped in 2019.

The research on the impact of the delays was based on children in Greater Manchester but services around the country have echoed its findings.

The delays have meant that many children had turned 18 while awaiting a decision, meaning they will no longer automatically receive the same protections and support such as a legal representative, responsible adult and interpreter.

As well as reports of a deterioration in mental health from children expressing anxiety over their status in the UK, on top of the pressures of lockdown, social workers have also reported that relationships with friends and adults in these children’s lives are beginning to break down. One social worker in Greater Manchester said a young person had stopped trusting the professionals working with him, another reported lack of engagement with education.

The delays have had a negative impact on children in all areas of their lives, including psychological, developmental, educational and social, said Maya Pritchard, youth casework manger at the South London Refugee Association. She said she was aware of discussions between members of the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium that children have experienced significant delays to their asylum claims across the UK, including Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol and the south-west, and Scotland.

Neena Acharya, senior solicitor at Coram Children’s Legal Centre, said that waits of more than a year were not unusual for the children they represented. She said that delays for processing decisions for children processed through the national referral mechanism – when it is suspected that they are the victims of modern slavery – had also increased, with “Covid cited like a get-out-of-jail-free card”.

Denise McDowell, head of the GMIAU, called for urgent action to get children’s asylum claims moving again. “There are children in bedrooms pushed towards self-harm, suffering persistent insomnia, losing their hair, unable to concentrate and giving up on the future. It’s happening because our children are stuck, waiting while adults struggle to work out how to decide their asylum claims during a pandemic,” she said.

If the Home Office is unable to get the system moving, the “the only sensible option is to grant asylum now to all these children who have been waiting in limbo”, she added.

Afzal Khan, Labour MP for Manchester Gorton, said he had seen first-hand the devastating impact delays have on asylum seekers within his constituency as they try to rebuild their life in the city. Urging the Home Office to address the findings of the report, he said: “It is particularly heartbreaking to see children affected by these delays on top of the emotional toll of school closures and lockdowns.

“Children seeking asylum in the UK on their own are becoming victims of the Home Office’s incompetence, and the emotional impact of this is devastating. All children deserve a safe and happy childhood”.

Kevin Foster, minister for future borders and immigration, said the research showed the asylum system was “broken and in desperate need of reform, so those genuinely in need of support are welcomed through safe and legal routes”.

He said the government was working to fix the current backlog by increasing operational capacity and improving processes so decisions were dealt with efficiently. “We are also prioritising unaccompanied asylum seeking children and vulnerable applicants, so those in genuine need get support.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
×