New research to help people demonstrate to the courts the impact their deportation will have upon their child
The charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) last week published a new literature review examining the impact of family separation upon children.
The 21-page review is here.
BID says it hopes its research will help people demonstrate to the court the impact that their deportation will have upon their child.
A 10-page accompanying self-help guide for using the research when appealing against deportation on the basis of the family life with a child in the UK is available here.
BID's review explains: "This literature review summarises research that has been conducted on the impact of family separation on a child, demonstrating how separation from a parent can cause harm to a child. The purpose of the reviews is to provide an in-depth overview of recent academic insights and discussions on the impact of 'family separation' from a number of different perspectives and contexts and focusses on academic literature from various disciplines published in the past 10 years.
"The first part of the review considers the impact of family separation in a general context of imprisonment, looking at the impact of parental incarcerations, as well as the specifics of incarceration of either the mother or the father on a child.
"The second part of the review demonstrates that similar negative impacts on children are seen in the context of family separation as a result of deportation."
BID concludes that the research clearly demonstrates the devastating impact that family separation due to parental imprisonment and deportation can have on children and family life and that many of the issues that children face is similar in both contexts.
BID director, Celia Clarke, said: "Our research demonstrates the incredibly severe and entirely predictable harm that is done to a child when they are forcibly separated from a parent, something that the UK does routinely through its deportation regime. It is no exaggeration to say that deportation law is racist and enables cruelty to children. This is a national scandal that will continue to unfold until major legislative changes are introduced."