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The Home Office is considering forcibly removing unaccompanied minors whose asylum claims have failed, Community Care has learned, writes Amy Taylor.

A Home Office spokesperson said that no decisions have been taken, but The Refugee Children’s Consortium, a group of charities including NCH and The Children’s Society, said that the government had been considering the plan for over a year and planned to return unaccompanied minors to their country of origin this year.

Alison Harvey, principal policy and practice manger at The Children’s Society, said that the consortium were not against unaccompanied minors being removed in principle but that it must be based on the best interests of the child.

She added that decisions on whether to return children must be taken by somebody independent of the government or the supporting local authority.

“No one is saying never send an under 18-year-old back. But we are saying you must do it properly and we are not in a position to do that at the moment,” she said.

She said that currently the Home Office grants leave to remain to unaccompanied minors whose asylum claims had failed until they are 18 and then deports them.