Towards a UNCRC-Compliant Asylum System in the UK: New Ideas for Better Practice

Baobab Talk Series

11 June 2025
Held at Kaplan International College London 

We are pleased to share recordings of our latest Baobab Talk, Towards a UNCRC-Compliant Asylum System in the UK: New Ideas for Better Practice. This event explored the UK’s legal obligations toward unaccompanied asylum seeking children (“UASCs”) in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Our expert panel discussed fresh perspectives and practical proposals for embedding children’s rights at the heart of the UK asylum and social care systems.

• Dr Ruth Brittle highlighted critical gaps in compliance with the UNCRC and shared thought-provoking ideas on how a reimagined, children’s-rights–focused asylum system could look.

• Rabia Nasimi shared her perspective on adopting a user-needs based approach to the protection and support of unaccompanied minors. Drawing on lived experience and frontline engagement, she highlighted key needs that are often overlooked in policy and practice.

Dr Ruth Brittle

Dr Brittle is a children’s rights expert with a particular interest in the rights of young refugees seeking sanctuary from persecution, violence and climate change. Ruth’s PhD, from the University of Nottingham, focused on the child’s right to protection in the context of asylum and refugee law and the operationalisation of the best interests principle in the context of international refugee law. (forthcoming). Ruth teaches family law, tort and immigration law at the University of Leicester.

In addition, Ruth is a qualified solicitor and an experienced litigator. As a solicitor, she has advised Local Authorities and their insurers on complex multi-party claims. Additionally, she has experience in handling cases involving abuse in foster care, sensitive child protection cases and claims by children with special educational needs.

Her current research focuses on the education rights of young people seeking sanctuary and the impact of age assessment procedures on a young person’s right to asylum and access to other rights, such as education, health, welfare, and accommodation. See her upcoming Raissian, C and Brittle, R (2025) Age as a Barrier to Rights: Age Assessment of Unaccompanied Children seeking Asylum in the UK, Child and Family Law Quarterly (forthcoming).

Rabia Nasimi
Rabia Nasimi is a policy expert and sociologist with a strong focus on refugee protection, user-centred design, and integration. She currently leads the User-Centred Design work for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Listening Exercise at the Cabinet Office, where she ensures that policy and research are grounded in the lived experiences of affected communities.

Rabia’s academic work has focused on refugee narratives, integration, and identity. She is a long-standing advocate for refugee rights, shaped by her own experience of displacement from Afghanistan as a child.

Previously, Rabia worked on the Afghan resettlement programme within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, where she led research and insight efforts. She has also played a central role in the work of the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA), a grassroots organisation founded by her family to support refugee integration in the UK.

Her professional and academic contributions have been recognised through national award nominations, including the Women of the Future Awards and the WeAreTheCity Rising Stars Awards.