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Against Borders for Children is a coalition of parents, teachers, schools and campaigners.

Our initial aim was to reverse the the Department of Education’s (DfE) policy, effective from September 2016, to collect country of birth and nationality information on 8 million children in England in order to ‘create a hostile environment’ for migrant children in schools.

Immigration data was collected through the School Census between 2016-2018 and subsequently permanently stored on the National Pupil Database. In June 2018, the UK Government issued new guidance for schools confirming that this data would no longer be sought – but still no confirmation has been given that Ministers will order the deletion of data already gathered – and address data is still being shared with the Home Office for immigration enforcement purposes.

We are continuing to seek the deletion of the nationality, country of birth, first language and ethnicity data gathered between 2016 – 2018 and an end to policies that seek to create a hostile environment in schools. As well as using the data to target individual children and families, we are concerned that members of the public, journalists, government departments, and other organisations will also be able to access schools’ immigration numbers. With a huge rise in racist hate crime since the Brexit vote, we fear for the safety of schoolchildren nationwide.

As well as using the data to target individual children and families, we are concerned that members of the public, journalists, government departments, and other organisations will also be able to access schools’ immigration numbers. With a huge rise in racist hate crime since the Brexit vote, we fear for the safety of schoolchildren nationwide.

What you can do:

If you are a parent, you can learn more about how to protect your child’s data.

If you are a teacher, learn how you can get involved.

For more questions, please contact us.

Supporting organisations

Over 20 organisations signed our letter to Justine Greening, calling on the Secretary of State for Education to reverse the policy and to commit to protecting all children from stigma, xenophobia, and violence. They are:

BARAC logo City of Sanctuary logo Defend Digital Me logo Critical Race & Ethnicities Network Logo Global Justice Now Logo
Institute of Race Relations logo Jawaa logo Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants logo Latin American Women's Rights Service logo Liberty Logo London Campaign Against Police and State Violence logo
Migrants Resource Centre logo Migrants' Rights Network logo Natoinal Union of Students logo 14aopenrightsgrplogo Privacy International Logo Race Equality Foundation logo
RAMFEL logo Refugee Council logo Right to Remain logo Southall Black Sisters logo The Monitoring Group logo