“I THOUGHT this government would be better on refugees, but they haven’t passed the test yet.”

Lord Alfred Dubs reveals plans for an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill that would see children fleeing war able to reunite with their families in the UK.

When Lord Alf Dubs was just six years old, he fled Prague on a Kindertransport train to Liverpool Street with nothing but a knapsack of food from his mother and a dog tag to identify him.

He left behind all his possessions, his home and his mother in German-occupied former Czechoslovakia to come to Britain, a land that offered him the opportunity to not only survive but also to live.  

An opportunity, the now 94-year-old peer believes, isn’t afforded to some of the most vulnerable children fleeing persecution and war today.

On Tuesday April 29 Lord Dubs spoke in conversation with Channel 4 producer Marcia Mascoll at human rights firm Leigh Day’s 2025 Immigration Summit. At the event attended by fellow Labour Party parliamentarians Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Dubs revealed that before the election, he thought the current government would be “better” than the last on refugees, but they are yet to “pass the test.”

Although, this hasn’t stopped the former MP for Battersea from holding out hope for the Labour Party. In his recounting of his journey to Britain and his years of advocacy on behalf of asylum-seekers, Lord Dubs also told the audience: “There are [Labour MPs] whose views I don’t believe have changed. I’m naively optimistic enough to think that we’ve just got to push these people and remind them of what they used to say [on refugees]. And embarrass them if they’re not willing to live up to it.”

Whether or not the current government will take a “more humanist” approach toward the refugee crisis remains to be seen, but in the meantime, Lord Dubs’s advocacy work continues. He exclusively told attendees at the Leigh Day Immigration Summit about his plans to push for an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. This amendment would allow the immediate families of child refugees, “wherever they are,” to come to the UK to join the lone child.

Under current immigration laws, children are rightfully granted the opportunity to enter the UK if sponsored by a family member who has already been granted protection status. The legislation, however, both current and proposed under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, does not address the fact that lone children aren’t able to sponsor the adults in their lives in the same way.

In written evidence submitted by the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium to the joint committee on human rights, they state that the “gap” in the refugee family reunion rules leaves vulnerable children without the support and protection of their families, “increasing their risk of harm, exploitation, and trafficking.” The consortium also suggested that the lack of regular routes for family reunification forces families to take dangerous journeys to reunite.  

Lord Dubs believes that the key to increasing the public’s empathy with asylum-seekers is through understanding just how dangerous those journeys are.

“We need to better understand what these people have been through. The difficult journey they’ve had, the children’s fervent wishes to resume their education, and the adults’ wish to get a job if they’re allowed to work. Which, at the moment, they are not. We might not be able to take everyone, but we could certainly be much more welcoming.”

The Labour peer believes comments such as those made by former home secretary Suella Braverman about refugees “invading” the country through the English Channel have no place in general society, let alone Parliament. Regarding such claims as fuelling the “nonsense” assertions that the majority of migrants enter this country on small boats. In reality, only a third of those claiming asylum arrived here on a small boat in 2024.

When asked whether refugees from non-European countries such as Palestine face differential treatment than those who arrived here from places such as Ukraine, Dubs told the audience of solicitors, journalists and other stakeholders in asylum law at the Leigh Day Immigration Summit: “It’s not exactly been an open-house for the Ukrainians, but it has been easier. It’s been much more difficult for Afghans, or the Sudanese, Syrian and so on. Clearly we’ve got to welcome them all.”

Dubs also stated at the summit that though right-wing parties have been “moderately successful” in using immigrants for their political ends, the “battle” for public opinion continues.

“We’ve all got to speak out. Whether it’s at the local or national level. Because we need more voices and we need more questions. We can be too quiet at times.

“We’ve got to make sure our politicians are made aware that a lot of people think as we do, not as The Sun or The Daily Mail would have us believe.

“A country can be judged on how it treats children. This has been relevant for some years, and those of us who are fortunate enough to have a little influence should try and use that influence as best we can.”