Migrant couple want UK asylum under ECHR after their children crossed the Channel ALONE

A migrant couple from Kurdish Turkey is seeking asylum in the UK after their two young children, aged six and nine, crossed the English Channel alone on a small boat.

The family had fled their home country and traveled to Calais, where they planned to make the dangerous journey to Britain.

However, during the crossing, the mother was pulled into the sea by other refugees, and the father jumped in to help her. By the time the parents were in the water, the boat had already left for the UK, leaving the children to arrive in Britain without them.

The couple’s lawyers are now arguing that the UK government must reunite the family under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). They claim that separating the children from their parents violates two key articles of the ECHR: the right to family life and the prohibition of torture, inhuman treatment, and degrading punishment.

The lawyers have also stated that the separation is causing serious harm to the children’s physical and psychological health, with the risk of long-term damage increasing every day.

The Home Office, however, has pushed back against these claims, warning that allowing the parents to enter the UK could set a dangerous precedent. They argue that it might encourage people-smuggling gangs to exploit the system by deliberately separating families and sending children alone on dangerous journeys.

Legal documents reveal that the Home Office believes granting entry to the parents could incentivize traffickers to force more children onto small boats, putting their lives at risk.

The case has sparked high-level discussions between the UK Home Office, the Foreign Office, French authorities, and French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. The Home Office has also accused the parents of not actively cooperating with local authorities to reunite with their children in France and suggested that their lawyers are trying to “game the system” by avoiding asylum claims in France.

Immigration judges have not ruled in favor of allowing the parents into the UK. During a Court of Appeal hearing, Lord Justice Underhill stated that there is a “reasonable prospect” of reuniting the family in France and that it would be wrong to undermine this process by requiring the Home Office to admit the parents.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has weighed in on the issue, stating that the children should be reunited with their parents in France or a neighboring country rather than allowing the parents to enter the UK. He warned that permitting such a move could create a dangerous incentive for families to send children alone on small boats to facilitate their own illegal entry into the UK.

The case highlights the complex and often tragic situations faced by migrants attempting to reach the UK, as well as the challenges governments face in balancing humanitarian concerns with the need to prevent exploitation of the asylum system. The outcome of this case could have significant implications for future immigration policies and practices.