Hosted by www.ijjo.org

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter 11 | Outcomes of Asylum Applications scope of the United Nations Convention, you would have to show that these incidents were not simply the random actions of individuals but were a sustained pattern or campaign of persecution directed at you which was knowingly tolerated by the authorities, or that the authorities were unable, or unwilling, to offer you effective protection. In the opinion of the Secretary of State, this has not been established in your case. He considers that you could have attempted to seek redress through the proper authorities before seeking international protection. 13 It is in this context that one legal representative comments: “I have never seen a refusal letter that takes into account the age of an unaccompanied or separated child, even though in practice there is language in the letter which makes reference to age. They don’t take into account the child’s perception of the world.” 14 11.3 Alternative Protection If a case worker refuses an unaccompanied or separated child’s application for asylum it is standard practice for the officer to then consider whether there is any other basis for the child to be granted leave to remain in the U.K. Since 1 April 2003 15 Humanitarian Protection has been available for any unaccompanied or separated child (or adult) refused asylum who, if returned to the country of origin, would face a serious risk to life or safety arising from a death penalty, unlawful killing or torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 16 This policy is largely a response to the prohibition contained in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and covers all prospective breaches of Article 3 except those which might occur as a result of a lack of adequate medical treatment in a country of origin. In such cases, unaccompanied or separated children are entitled to discretionary leave to remain. 17 Discretionary leave can also be granted where there is a serious risk that another Article of the European Convention on Human Rights will be breached if the child is returned to the country of origin. Such discretionary leave is also granted where an unaccompanied or separated child is refused asylum but the Secretary of State for the Home Department is said not to be satisfied that there are adequate care and reception arrangements in place in the countries of origin. In practice these decisions are not a result of individual investigation and research, which is beyond the Government’s expertise and currently allocated resources. Rather it is a recognition of the Secretary of State’s lack of assurance that there are adequate care and reception arrangements in place and a welcome response to public and social services expectations that children will not be removed without adequate safeguards regarding their welfare. Hosted by www.ijjo.org 131
It is not possible to ascertain the precise basis upon The provision of exceptional or discretionary which any unaccompanied or separated child was leave to remain until an unaccompanied or sepa- granted Humanitarian Protection from the available rated child’s 18th birthday is a broad brush approach data. What is clear is that very few unaccompanied to meeting children’s immediate welfare needs. The or separated children are given this protection. existence of this provision is seen by many legal practitioners as a distraction from the asylum Grants of Humanitarian Protection determination process: the grant of exceptional or to Unaccompanied or Separated Children discretionary leave has the serious long term con- ■ 2003 0.3% Granted ■ 2005 1% Granted ■ 2004 1% Granted (20) sequence of placing the grantee unaccompanied or separated child at risk of being returned to face persecution on turning 18. This occurs without The percentages were comparable to those for adults granted Humanitarian Protection during the same period. the Government having given serious consideration to the child’s entitlement to protection under the Refugee Convention. Furthermore, as family tracing is rarely under- Grants of Humanitarian Protection to Adults taken and care and reception arrangements are not explored, there may well be unaccompanied or sep- ■ 2003 0.36% Granted ■ 2005 0.4% Granted ■ 2004 0.33% Granted arated children whose best interests would be met by being reunited with their families rather than by being granted leave to remain. (Legal practitioners SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM 132 Home Office statistics do not reveal the basis on which unaccompanied or separated children are granted discretionary leave. Grant letters indicate only that the child’s leave is either a response to a prospective human rights breach or simply a consequence of the child’s minority. Prior to 1 April 2003, there was only one form of leave which could be granted to unaccompanied or separated children refused refugee status — exceptional leave to remain (ELR). 18 This could be granted for a number of reasons. Sometimes the grant of ELR was an acknowledgement that returning the child to their country of origin would breach the European Convention on Human Rights. At other times it was used when there were particularly compassionate circumstances relating to the individual case. More usually it was granted to failed asylum seekers who were under 18 and for whom adequate care and reception arrangements were not in place in their country of origin. believe this is only true of a minority of unaccompanied or separated children, because they rarely manage to contact their families in the countries of origin.) Letters granting exceptional leave to unaccompanied or separated children did not specify the reason for the grant but experienced legal representatives believe that in the vast majority of cases, it was a result of the child’s age. The fact that extension applications which would expire after a child’s 18th birthday would generally be refused, confirms this supposition. Not all legal representatives expected this outcome. “There is a difference between being granted discretionary leave on compassionate grounds and being given discretionary leave as a child, because discretionary leave on compassionate grounds carries the expectation of an extension.” 19 Hosted by www.ijjo.org
Page 1 and 2:
Unaccompanied and Separated Childre
Page 3 and 4:
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jacqueline Bhabha
Page 5 and 6:
Manchester City Council; Sue Fisher
Page 7 and 8:
Contents Chapter 1 | 9 Chapter 5 |
Page 9 and 10:
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 11 and 12:
Arriving in the U.K. 6 The Immigrat
Page 13 and 14:
ers often believe that although a p
Page 15 and 16:
fear of certain groups in society t
Page 17 and 18:
that unaccompanied minor children f
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
It then added that “although chil
Page 23 and 24:
2004 it rose to 8.8%. This was at a
Page 25 and 26:
2.3 Countries of Origin Unaccompani
Page 27 and 28:
Recommendations ■ 1. If the U.K.
Page 29 and 30:
There was no comparable age differe
Page 31 and 32:
2.7 Private Fostering Arrangements
Page 33 and 34:
Endnotes 9 Statistics published by
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
unfounded, thus depriving this subs
Page 39 and 40:
Bill in Parliament which would have
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
of someone who might be an unaccomp
Page 45 and 46:
It is clear that the Rules are a po
Page 47 and 48:
subsequently abducted by their form
Page 49 and 50:
“G” was a 16-year-old Christian
Page 51 and 52:
■ 4. Article 4 of the European Co
Page 53 and 54:
17 A multi-agency task force establ
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
of the asylum determination process
Page 59 and 60:
as a group around the claimant laug
Page 61 and 62:
with as being hostile. Nor did they
Page 63 and 64:
purposes. 38 The Immigration and Na
Page 65 and 66:
or local authority social services
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
als from age disputed children deta
Page 71 and 72:
and February 2005 when 75% of those
Page 73 and 74:
accommodation which is separated fr
Page 75 and 76:
e safe to let the child go and live
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
case, that adult is advised to info
Page 81 and 82: The official justification for thes
Page 83 and 84: Asylum Support Team has a case load
Page 85 and 86: days and a second review after thre
Page 87 and 88: provides access to rehabilitation a
Page 89 and 90: SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 91 and 92: who the child must try to relate to
Page 93 and 94: adult in their life to speak on the
Page 95 and 96: 8.3 Role of a Legal Guardian rights
Page 97 and 98: asylum application and monitor the
Page 101 and 102: do once I got to London. The pictur
Page 103 and 104: Some social services departments do
Page 105 and 106: ■ 5. The screening interview shou
Page 107 and 108: eturn to a country requiring servic
Page 109 and 110: ■ 6. The syllabus for the Accredi
Page 113 and 114: this research believe that it is no
Page 115 and 116: A recent White Paper 13 states that
Page 117 and 118: an important and distinct role to p
Page 119 and 120: for Determining Refugee Status. 30
Page 121 and 122: draws on a small number of other re
Page 123 and 124: ■ 3. UNHCR also states that the q
Page 131: contact the child via social servic
Page 135 and 136: leave to remain if it was unlikely
Page 139 and 140: “Unaccompanied children are not g
Page 141 and 142: 5 IND. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking
Page 147 and 148: until they turn 18, whichever is th
Page 151 and 152: “There are some exceptionally goo
Page 153 and 154: could have been allowed. In one of
Page 155 and 156: esisting removal to their countries
Page 157 and 158: ■ 3. The Law Society and the Lega
Page 159 and 160: determinations we analyzed this did
Page 161 and 162: 42 Interview with Laura Brownlees,
Page 165 and 166: should resolve this difficulty. The
Page 167 and 168: A number of legal representatives b
Page 169 and 170: Department at appeals by unaccompan
Page 171 and 172: Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
Page 173 and 174: Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
Page 175 and 176: Recommendations 14 Immigration Rule
Page 179 and 180: concern the plethora of evidence of
Page 181 and 182: As a consequence of these restricti
Page 183 and 184:
■ ■ accommodate unaccompanied o
Page 185 and 186:
that the vast majority of referrals
Page 187 and 188:
ecause of long waiting lists and be
Page 189 and 190:
which would have provided for a leg
Page 191 and 192:
screening interview and do not real
Page 193 and 194:
■ 9.9 The interviewer should alwa
Page 195 and 196:
excessive delay in reaching a decis
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
children, or anyone who had been re
Page 201 and 202:
appeal. The Asylum Policy Unit has
Page 203 and 204:
and adjudicators rarely prevented t
Page 205 and 206:
22 Information provided by Ailish K
Page 207 and 208:
A P P E N D I X 1 Glossary of Terms
Page 209 and 210:
Bibliography Amnesty International.
Page 211 and 212:
Immigration Advisory Service. Submi
Page 213 and 214:
FOR MORE INFORMATION PHOTOGRAPHY CR
show all

Hosted by www.ijjo.org

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?