‘Starve them out’: does every child really matter? A commentary on Section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act, 2004

This article analyses Section 9 of the Immigration and Asylum (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act, which gives the Home Office powers to terminate all welfare support to failed asylum-seeking families deemed to be in a position to leave the United Kingdom. It examines the implications of Section 9 for both practitioners and asylum-seeking families. The article shows that by threatening children with destitution and possible removal from their families, Section 9 flies in the face of the UK’s domestic and international human rights commitments. Moreover, in flatly contradicting accepted childcare principles, Section 9 undermines the Labour government’s stated ambition to ensure that ‘every child matters’.