Friday, 17 April 2026 — Migrants Organise
| It shakes my humanity to witness what people go through in the asylum system. Over the years we’ve seen a relentless cycle of scare tactics from politicians and media outlets designed to intimidate and harm migrant communities.
As a caseworker at Migrants Organise, providing frontline support to people in asylum accomodation, I see first hand the harm stemming from this culture of disbelief. |
| A while back I met a child living at the asylum hotel where we run drop-in advice sessions, Adam*. Adam had travelled here alone from Eritrea.
His situation stood out to me immediately. He was a child, still growing, yet alone. He didn’t have proper clothing. What I found devastating was that the Home Office and social services here in Britain had not believed him about his age. This had a huge impact on Adam’s rights and the kind of support he could have. He was being forced to grow up too fast, facing a hostile system and “professional” adults who won’t believe him. Adam just couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t believe him. Sadly, this happens a lot. |
| Read Adam’s full story |
| I pushed the Home Office for another age assessment. This time the Home Office agreed – he was clearly a child.
Eventually, he was placed with a foster family and is now getting more age appropriate support with children’s social services. He is much happier, and is now attending school and making friends his own age. But despite being a child, Adam still has to navigate the asylum system without a solicitor – the crisis in Legal Aid is something we’ve been organising on with our Access to Justice campaign. |
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The New Dark Age 
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