A teenage asylum seeker from Iran who travelled alone on a small boat to the UK is “terrified” by the threat of removal under the Illegal Migration Act (IMA), the High Court has heard.
Counsel for the 16-year-old boy claimed his attempts to settle safely in Northern Ireland have been unlawfully undermined by the controversial legislation.
Jude Bunting KC said: “He says it terrifies him, he can’t develop lasting relationships and it makes him feel the support he is receiving is meaningless.
”As part of government attempts to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, anyone arriving illegally in the UK will be detained and removed under the terms of the IMA.
The legislation is already subject to a separate legal challenge by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
But proceedings brought on behalf of the Iranian teenager focus on the impact of the IMA on unaccompanied children.
His legal team contend that it breaches the post-Brexit Windsor Framework, which commits the UK not to diminish human rights safeguarded from the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The Act is also incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), according to the boy’s lawyers.
The court heard he travelled through Turkey, Greece and France before getting on a small boat to the UK and claiming asylum in July last year.
He stated that he travelled by a dangerous route and feared being sent back to Iran, claiming he would be killed or sent to prison.
Further concerns were raised that the IMA could give unaccompanied children in the asylum asylum system an incentive to run away in a bid to avoid removal once they turn 18, driving them into the arms of exploiters and traffickers.
Opening the challenge, Mr Bunting insisted that the teenager has the required legal status of being a potential victim.
He told the court there is an immediate risk to his client, who is currently staying at a children’s home.
“He makes the point that he’s trying to settle in Northern Ireland and make friends, but there’s a major obstacle,” the barrister submitted.
“The obstacle of course is the Illegal Migration Act.”
Mr Bunting added: “He feels at risk of removal, either as soon as the Home Office decides he is 18, or if his age is reassessed
“He sometimes wonders what the point is in trying to form relationships with carers to participate in education or to seek lasting accommodation if he’s going to be removed at any time.”
Mr Justice Humphreys was told that an independent assessment carried out by a local Trust also found the boy is suffering from a low mood.
“The applicant needs legal stability, and to receive his legal entitlements,” counsel insisted.
“The desired outcome is that he will be granted leave to remain. That’s what the Act seeks to restrict him from doing.
“He is a victim of these provisions, even though they are not yet fully in force.”
The case continues.