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Chapter 13 | Appeals: Processes and Outcomes
ethnicity. Notably, very few appeals were allowed on
the basis of child specific persecution as a member of
a particular social group, despite the fact that this
convention reason was potentially applicable to a
significant number of unaccompanied or separated
children.
In the three months sampled for the purposes
of this research 26% of current or former male
unaccompanied or separated children had their
asylum appeals allowed.
It is also clear that a number of unaccompanied or
separated children have had their appeals allowed
on the basis of a political opinion imputed from
their father’s political activities and that political
opinion is a Convention reason which is readily
accepted by adjudicators. This accords with the
popular perception that asylum is principally a
response to political repression.
We also found unaccompanied or separated children’s
appeals allowed on the basis of race, religion, or
By comparison only 19% of current or former
female unaccompanied or separated children
had their asylum appeals allowed. This may
indicate that girls have greater difficulty in
winning appeals because they are more likely to
rely on child specific forms of persecution such
as child trafficking.
It also seems that boys are more likely to be considered
“political” and therefore in danger of persecution
because of an imputed political opinion. Appeals
are heard from children of many nationalities, which
reflects the great range of countries within Asia,
Africa, Europe, and the former Soviet Union that
generate asylum applications in the U.K.
2004 Appeals by Unaccompanied or Separated Children
FEB MAY OCT
■ Appeals heard 118 total 113 total 83 total
NUMBER PERCENT NUMBER PERCENT NUMBER PERCENT
Male _ _ 89 78.8% 70 84.3%
Female _ _ 24 21.2% 13 15.7%
■ Appeals allowed 26 22.0% 25 22.1% 9 10.7%
■ Allowed on Refugee Convention grounds 21 17.8% 24 21.2% 8 9.5%
■ Allowed where appellant is 18+ 4 3.4% 2 1.8% 2 2.4%
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