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Chapter 14 | Policy and Practice Recommendations
statistics to reflect the number of age disputes which
were subsequently resolved in favour of the unaccompanied
or separated child. Anecdotal evidence
from non-governmental organizations, social workers,
and legal representatives also suggests that a
number of unaccompanied or separated children
trafficked into the U.K. have not come to the attention
of the authorities and have not therefore been
included in the statistics. Most importantly no statistics
have been collected at any point in relation
to the number of unaccompanied or separated children
who actually do appeal against a decision to
refuse them asylum or the numbers who succeed
in any such appeal.
Reconsidering children as a special class
of asylum seekers
A particularly high incidence of applications from
unaccompanied or separated children as opposed to
adults from specific countries suggests that they may
be the targets of child specific persecution and thus
cannot simply be subsumed into the wider class of
asylum seekers without further thought. The fact
that the top 10 countries of origin for female unaccompanied
or separated children 2 do not mirror
those for asylum seekers as a class further supports
this point.
Juxtaposed controls
Over the past few years a growing number of barriers
has been erected to prevent asylum seekers from
reaching the U.K. Under a system of juxtaposed
controls, 3 immigration officers have been placed at
ports and Eurostar stations in France and Belgium
to check the immigration status of those wishing to
travel to the U.K. Airline Liaison Officers also operate
at various airports abroad playing a similar role.
If a traveller is not entitled to enter the U.K., they
are turned back at that point. No statistics are collected
of the numbers of individuals thus refused
leave to travel to the U.K. or whether they include
unaccompanied or separated children.
Children who do not come into contact
with local authorities
Once an unaccompanied and separated child has
made an application for asylum, the claim is
processed and the child becomes the responsibility
of a local authority social services department.
Our research indicates that many unaccompanied
and separated children entering the U.K. every year
need the international protection offered by the
Refugee Convention but fail to come into contact
with the authorities and therefore have no means to
claim asylum. They include children trafficked into
the U.K. for various forms of exploitation and those
brought in under private fostering arrangements
which may also mask exploitative and abusive situations.
Although the U.K. Immigration Service has
responded to concerns about this group of children
in a number of positive ways, the rapid increase
in the number of children being age disputed has
undermined progress on ensuring that unaccompanied
and separated children entering the U.K. are
properly protected.
Complications around private
fostering arrangements
Our research reveals that significant numbers of
unaccompanied or separated children are brought
into the U.K. to be looked after by distant relatives
or family friends in order to obtain better educational
and eventually employment opportunities.
Very strict rules and restrictions govern the grant
of leave to remain as a dependant, and in practice,
leave is refused unless the child has been orphaned
or his or her parents and any other relatives in the
child’s country of origin are incapable of caring for
him or her. Similarly strict controls are used in situations
where a child enters the U.K. to be adopted. 4 179
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