Massive support for BASW stand on asylum age assessment recruitment
Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 16 February 2023
Social workers and organisations supporting them have publicly backed BASW’s stand urging members not to join the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) to assess the ages of asylum seekers.
The Home Office is currently recruiting social workers to join the NAAB. But BASW is discouraging members and all other social workers from applying for age assessment roles. The board was established under the Nationality and Borders Act to remove responsibility for determining the age of asylum seekers from local authorities.
BASW says this could lead to “political priorities intruding on professional objectivity” with worrying implications for child welfare. After BASW issued the warning, many took to Twitter to voice their support for the position.
The Social Work Action Group said the move was “the right call from BASW UK. The political priorities of the Home Office mean that social workers would be drawn into unethical practices and pressures".
Social Workers Without Borders tweeted: "Social workers take heed: the National Age Assessment Board is NOT supported by our professional association. Avoid, avoid, avoid!"
The Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit tweeted a round of applause at BASW for taking the stand and added: "The Home Office continually fails to keep children safe with their culture of disbelief. We're grateful for the many social workers who stand up for children."
Director of Stand for All Daniel Sohege tweeted: "Good to see such a strong response from @BASW_UK. The Home Office has a track record of incorrectly assessing children as adults, and having a culture of disbelief. Age assessments should not be under their remit at all."
TACT Fostering tweeted: "Excellent stand from @BASW_UK. Given that no method of age assessing exists that is more accurate than tossing a coin, social workers should not engage in hostile environment approaches that are clearly contrary to the central tenet of the 1989 Children Act."
Individual social workers also praised BASW for its clear position. Social work manager Duc Tran said: "Absolutely agree with @BASW_UK advice to avoid political imperatives that can compromise professional judgement..."
And social worker Rob Mitchell tweeted: "Great leadership from @BASW_UK. Even putting the awful politics to one side, regardless of who employs the social worker to undertake the age assessment, where in our social work education, our values and our professional remit, is this a genuine social work task or function?"
In the coming months, responsibility for age assessments will gradually move from local authorities to the NAAB.
In a local authority setting, additional health and education needs are included, as well as rights on asylum and immigration status.
PSW has previously reported how children who are wrongly assessed as adults risk deportation, and are placed in detention centres.
BASW believes social workers performing age assessments need the right resources and supervision, and that these are most likely to be available within local authorities.
BASW chief executive, Ruth Allen said: “The Home Office directly employing social workers to carry out age assessments of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is a risk to professional objectivity and could compromise the judgement of social workers.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Age assessments are challenging but vital to identifying genuine asylum-seeking children and [stopping] abuse of the system. We are taking steps to prevent adults claiming to be children, or children being wrongly treated as adults – as both present serious safeguarding risks to children.
“The National Age Assessment Board’s assessments and members of staff will be distinct from the Home Office’s asylum and immigration decision-making functions. The best interests of children and the aim of achieving accurate age assessments will be the primary consideration.”