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C H A P T E R 2 Unaccompanied or Separated Children Arriving in the United Kingdom 2.1 Definitions Used in the United Kingdom The Immigration and Nationality Directorate and local authorities in the U.K. usually describe unaccompanied or separated children as unaccompanied minor asylum seeking children (UASCs) or simply unaccompanied minors. This terminology does not adequately reflect the circumstances of many of these children, often forcibly separated from parents or carers by events beyond their control, such as the imprisonment or murder of a parent, the destruction of a whole community, or the act of being trafficked. To reflect this and the fact that the term “separated” is used widely in other jurisdictions, unaccompanied minor asylum seeking children have been referred to as unaccompanied or separated children throughout this report. This also enables the report to address, or at least begin to address, the situation of children who arrive with adults who are not their parents or legal or customary primary caregivers as the result of being trafficked to or smuggled into the U.K. This approach also ensures that children who are potentially asylum seekers as well as victims of child trafficking or children placed in abusive private fostering placements are not overlooked. The terminology being used by the U.K. Government in official documents is inconsistent. The Asylum Seekers (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2005 1 state that “an unaccompanied minor means a person below the age of eighteen who arrives in the United Kingdom unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him whether by law or custom and makes a claim for Hosted by www.ijjo.org 19
It then added that “although children may not be with their parents we would not consider them to be unaccompanied if they are being cared for by an adult who is responsible for them.” The Immigration Service adopted a similar definition which stated that an unaccompanied child was “a person who is under 18 and is neither accompanied by a suitable adult nor has a suitable adult sponsor within the United Kingdom.” 3 These definitions are not satisfactory because they do not require the relevant adults to have legal or customary responsibility for the child in question nor do they specify the criteria according to which their “suitability” is to be judged. These definitional defects leave unaccompanied or separated children in a legal vacuum and also asylum.” This description is very similar to the definition of a separated child used by the Separated potentially expose them to abuse from adults. SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM 20 Children In Europe Programme and can include the unaccompanied and separated children referred to in this Report. However, at other times, the official definition is more restrictive and relates more to the need to maintain strict domestic immigration controls than the need to meet any international obligation to protect unaccompanied or separated children. In its guidance on Processing Applications from Children 2 the Immigration and Nationality Directorate defined an unaccompanied child as: a person, who at the time of making the asylum application: ■ ■ ■ is under eighteen years of age, or who in the absence of any documentary evidence appears to be under that age and who is claiming asylum in their own right; and is without adult family members or guardians to turn to in this country. Even if they are well cared for by the accompanying adult, the unaccompanied or separated children cannot usually benefit from the adult’s citizenship or settled status in the United Kingdom as they do not qualify as a dependant. Therefore, if their application for asylum fails, they still face possible removal to their country of origin alone. At the same time, these children do not benefit from the policy of granting unaccompanied or separated children a period of discretionary leave if their application for asylum is refused. At times it appears as if they are being prevented from claiming asylum on the erroneous basis that they are now part of a new “family.” 4 There is a further questionable presumption on the part of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate that the existence of a substitute “parent” in the U.K. fully compensates for the absence of a parent from the child’s country of origin. In relation to the determination of the child’s asylum claim this is potentially very damaging. If the child’s birth family had been present they would have been 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: SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
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 37 and 38: unfounded, thus depriving this subs
Page 39 and 40: Bill in Parliament which would have
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 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 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
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e safe to let the child go and live
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SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 79 and 80:
case, that adult is advised to info
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The official justification for thes
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Asylum Support Team has a case load
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days and a second review after thre
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provides access to rehabilitation a
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who the child must try to relate to
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adult in their life to speak on the
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8.3 Role of a Legal Guardian rights
Page 97 and 98:
asylum application and monitor the
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do once I got to London. The pictur
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Some social services departments do
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■ 5. The screening interview shou
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eturn to a country requiring servic
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■ 6. The syllabus for the Accredi
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this research believe that it is no
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A recent White Paper 13 states that
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an important and distinct role to p
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for Determining Refugee Status. 30
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draws on a small number of other re
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■ 3. UNHCR also states that the q
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contact the child via social servic
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It is not possible to ascertain the
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leave to remain if it was unlikely
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“Unaccompanied children are not g
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5 IND. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking
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until they turn 18, whichever is th
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“There are some exceptionally goo
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could have been allowed. In one of
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esisting removal to their countries
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■ 3. The Law Society and the Lega
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determinations we analyzed this did
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42 Interview with Laura Brownlees,
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should resolve this difficulty. The
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A number of legal representatives b
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Department at appeals by unaccompan
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Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
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Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
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Recommendations 14 Immigration Rule
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concern the plethora of evidence of
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As a consequence of these restricti
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■ ■ accommodate unaccompanied o
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that the vast majority of referrals
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ecause of long waiting lists and be
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which would have provided for a leg
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screening interview and do not real
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■ 9.9 The interviewer should alwa
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excessive delay in reaching a decis
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children, or anyone who had been re
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appeal. The Asylum Policy Unit has
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and adjudicators rarely prevented t
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22 Information provided by Ailish K
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A P P E N D I X 1 Glossary of Terms
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Bibliography Amnesty International.
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Immigration Advisory Service. Submi
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FOR MORE INFORMATION PHOTOGRAPHY CR
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