Home Office Earned Settlement Consultation – our evidence published

In November 2025, the Home Office proposed to change settlement in the United Kingdom. A consultation was opened for individuals and organisations to comment on the proposed changes.

Our submission outlines massive areas of concern for all refugees but even more so for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.

Some key points from our submission: 

• Automatically barring or extending time for settlement due to mode of arrival is not only in breach of the 1951 Refugee Convention, but it disregards the realities of child exploitation and displacement.  

• Linking settlement to NHS debt or mental health care would deter vulnerable young people from seeking essential support, deepening trauma rather than fostering integration. 

• Integration itself is not a measurable checklist. Attempts to formally assess it, through English tests, cultural courses, or behavioural evidence, misrepresent how multifaceted integration is. 

• Many refugees do not have a chance to access regular education prior to coming to the UK – for instance by age 23 our young people at the Baobab Centre will have spent just 9 years total in education, compared to 18 for UK young people. Add the effects of trauma on arrested development and it is clear that our young people need proper care and support to thrive in the advanced UK economy. Punishing people for not meeting income requirements is unfair and cruel as it ignores glaring inequalities in access to education.  

In summary, the earned settlement proposal will only entrench insecurity for the most vulnerable in British society. It disproportionately targets low-income migrants, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and survivors of trafficking, torture and gender-based violence.  

We hope our evidence will help the Home Office reconsider its proposal and ensure that all migrants – especially people seeking asylum and refugees – have safety, stability and dignity in the UK.