Hosted by www.ijjo.org

Chapter 14 | Policy and Practice Recommendations
Unavailable/untrained legal representation
While the Legal Services Commission funds a legal
representative to accompany an unaccompanied or
separated child to a screening interview, the research
reveals that many unaccompanied or separated children
are unable to obtain legal representation before the
screening interview takes place or that when they
found a legal representative, he or she has not always
had the appropriate training or experience.
separated children have such a poor understanding
of the intricacies of the asylum determination process
may jeopardize their applications from the initial stage.
No child specific screening practices
Despite the many improvements, an unaccompanied
or separated child applying for asylum is still subjected
to a broadly similar screening process as an
adult asylum seeker. Only a few modifications to
this procedure take into account the child’s age.
Untrained officers
Screening interviews are supposed to be conducted
by immigration officers at ports of entry, by local
enforcement officers, or by case workers at Asylum
Screening Units trained to interview children.
However, we found that if a trained officer was
not available, the interview was not postponed but
conducted by an untrained officer. Even though
a responsible adult has to be present at the interview
this may not be a sufficient safeguard for
unaccompanied or separated children.
Misunderstanding the purpose of the interview
The Level 1 27 Screening Form used is identical to
the one used for an adult and is largely concerned
with the unaccompanied or separated child’s identity
and family, and his or her journey to the U.K.
If the unaccompanied or separated child reveals during
the screening interview that he or she has been a victim
of child trafficking, the interview is stopped and a
referral is made to the police. 28 However, unaccompanied
children who are interviewed often appear to
have misunderstood the purpose of their screening
interview and feel frustrated at what they perceive
as a refusal by the interviewer to listen to their accounts
of persecution. The fact that screening interviews
are used to check on a child’s claims about their
nationality is confusing and upsetting to children.
Improper use of screening interviews
The screening interview is supposed to be non-probing
although interviewers are permitted to exercise
some discretion and adopt a more rigorous approach
where issues of credibility arise. 29 It is clear, however,
from refusal letters sent to unaccompanied or separated
children that the content of screening interviews
is heavily relied upon in the Immigration and
Nationality Directorate decision making process.
Misunderstanding the role of interpreters
Some unaccompanied or separated children misunderstand
the role of the interpreter during the
Hosted by www.ijjo.org
189