Children's Rights Must be Considered in Immigration Cases

In deciding immigration cases, the rights of any children who are British citizens and who would be affected by the decision must be taken into consideration. This was the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of a Tanzanian woman who had made three failed asylum claims.

A child who is born and raised in the UK and has a British parent is a citizen, a fact which must be considered by the court in decisions made regarding the child’s welfare. In this case, the rights of the woman's children, who were born in the UK to a British father, had to be taken into consideration when making a decision that would affect their ability to remain in the UK.

Merely assuming that the children ‘could adapt’ if their mother’s claim was refused and she was repatriated to Tanzania with them was not adequate. The children had the right to remain in the UK, and their mother’s application to remain had to be considered with that in mind.