Young Refugees
All laws and practices that protect, safeguard, and promote the welfare of children should be applied to refugee children and young people.
Every year around 3000 children arrive in the UK alone and apply for asylum. Many others arrive with their families. Often traumatised, they may have fled persecution, violence or torture and experienced serious disturbance in their lives. Refugee children are among the most disadvantaged and discriminated against children in England. They can struggle to access housing, support, legal advice and education.
In recognition of the particular vulnerabilities of children, international law and policy places the needs of children above the requirements of immigration control. The UK Government however, entered a Reservation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC), which effectively allows children who are subject to immigration control to be excluded from its provisions.
We lobby for:
All refugee children to have the same standard of support and leaving care support as any other child in England. Circular (2003) 13 makes clear that all young refugees should be treated as any other child in the provision of services and accommodation. The guidance has been consistently undermined by legislative and policy changes and is still not being followed in a number of areas. The starkest example is Section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004, which denies families any support if they are deemed to fail to co-operate with attempts to remove them from the country.
All refugee children to have places in mainstream schools and have the opportunity to participate in activities in and out of school. School is the ideal starting point to enable refugee children, who many have experienced dislocation and trauma, to rebuild their lives. Aside from learning, it enables them to make friends, learn English and achieve vital qualifications. However refugee children and young people often find it harder to access education compared with other groups because of a shortage of school places, unwillingness by some schools to admit refugee pupils, high housing mobility and confusing admissions procedures.
All children applying for asylum to receive the support, advice and representation necessary for their claims to be judged fairly. The current process fails to guarantee young refugees the legal representation and impartial advocate to put forward their claim for protection adequately. Consequently vulnerable children and young people in need of protection risk being returned to their home country where their safety and lives are at threat.
No refugee children will be held in immigration detention. Children seeking asylum are the only group of children who can be locked up, without time limit, solely for administrative purposes. The negative consequences are severe, including mental health problems and lack of access to education. Over recent years international human rights organisations have expressed concerns about the detention of refugee children in the UK. Yet there is a growing use of detention centres to meet the objectives of UK asylum and immigration policy, including fast tracked processing of asylum applications and an increasing emphasis on removals.
Consultations and briefings