Hosted by www.ijjo.org

screening interview and do not realise that he or
account of a child’s past persecution and future fears,
she is merely there to facilitate the interview. 30 They
despite the extended 28-day period that children
sometimes think the interpreter is interviewing them
have to complete the form.
or ask the interpreter for advice. Sometimes the fact
that the interpreter comes from the child’s own
Lack of questions relating to
country causes additional trauma. Interpreters used
child specific persecution
by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate
A major problem with the new form is that it con-
receive no training to prepare them for screening
tains no questions referring to child specific forms
interviews involving unaccompanied or separated
of persecution, such as female genital mutilation,
children.
child trafficking, or forced marriages. C6 of the form
merely states that if the unaccompanied or separated
Lack of child friendly briefings regarding
child’s claim is partly or wholly based on a reason
the Refugee Convention
other than race, ethnic group, nationality, religion,
The U.K. Government had taken a number of steps
political opinion (including membership of a par-
to make it easier for unaccompanied or separated
ticular social group), that section should be completed.
children to make their asylum applications, but one
The child is not alerted to the fact that information
obvious deficit is the absence of a child friendly
on these child specific issues can have relevance to
briefing about the nature and scope of the protec-
the asylum application. This is a serious omission,
tion offered by the Refugee Convention (and the
especially since the claim to be part of a particular
European Convention on Human Rights) before
social group may be the most sustainable Convention
they complete the Children’s Statement of Evidence
reason for an unaccompanied or separated child.
Form. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate
appears to assume that such a briefing is unnecessary
or is provided by the child’s social worker or legal
representative. In reality very few children have any
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM
190
idea of whether or how they can rely on international
legal protections. An appreciation of the law relating
to the relevant conventions is also outside the range
of expertise of the vast majority of social workers. 31
Many unaccompanied or separated children do not
even gain access to legal representatives with the
necessary skills.
Length of application form
Despite the improvements to the initial asylum
application form, the current document is 27 pages
long 32 and exclusively in English. 33 Questions and
answers therefore have to be translated into English,
a laborious and lengthy process. There are legitimate
concerns that it is often not possible to obtain a full
Hosted by www.ijjo.org