Hosted by www.ijjo.org

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter 2 | Unaccompanied or Separated Children Arriving in the United Kingdom “The people who brought me here had documents. They took me to the mosque that night and then the next day, the people at the mosque put me on a train to Croydon.” 23 In an apparent attempt to conceal the routes and methods used to smuggle the unaccompanied or separated child to the U.K., agents frequently tell children to lie about how they arrived. In some cases this has led to adverse credibility findings being made against the unaccompanied or separated child. A small minority are brought into the U.K. by their own parents or relatives and then abandoned after passing through immigration control whilst the adult in question travels back to their country of origin or elsewhere. 21 This can occur when parents believe they will be arrested for political activities in the near future and want to protect their child from any consequent persecution. These children eventually find their way or are directed to an Asylum Screening Unit or local enforcement office where they make an application. Meanwhile, the agent/smuggler will have disappeared and will not therefore be available to give evidence about the child’s risk of persecution. The agents are paid simply to get the unaccompanied or separated child into the U.K. and through the initial port formalities; disappearing thereafter is the most effective way of protecting their future smuggling activities. This behaviour is consistent with children’s account of abandonment in a public place such as a railway station or community centre connected with the child’s country of origin. Children are also abandoned in areas with a high proportion of their co-nationals, or close to an Asylum Screening Unit 22 itself. In such circumstances, the child has to rely on the advice of well meaning adults. “Stories [unaccompanied or separated children] tell us about why they came here [may be] patently ridiculous. Accounts they give appear to have been given to them. For example kids claim to have slept at the railway station overnight when it is locked at night. Others claim to have arrived at the local airport when the immigration officers are very tight and not a lot of black kids arrive there.” 24 The research revealed that it is also likely that a significant number of unaccompanied or separated children are trafficked into the U.K. either clandestinely in lorries or cars or by being passed off as the trafficker’s own children at sea, or more usually, air ports. These children are usually 25 not told to apply for asylum or given any opportunity to do so. Instead they are conveyed to the place of exploitation. The one exception is a group of Nigerian girls trafficked into the U.K. in transit for Italy by a trafficking gang whose modus operandi was to instruct them to claim asylum and then once they were safely in the U.K. abduct them from the care of the local authority accommodating them. Since trafficked unaccompanied or separated children usually enter the U.K. clandestinely, it is very difficult for anyone in a position of authority to identify them. Hosted by www.ijjo.org 29
2.7 Private Fostering Arrangements The situation is further complicated by the fact that there are also a large, but unquantified, number of unaccompanied or separated children being brought into the U.K. allegedly to be looked after by distant relatives or family friends in order to obtain better educational and eventually employment opportunities. Since there is no provision in the Immigration Rules for children to enter and remain in the U.K. for such purposes, unaccompanied or separated children can only be granted leave to remain as a relative’s dependant if they can demonstrate “serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the unaccompanied or separated child undesirable,” and if suitable arrangements have been made for the child’s care. 26 In practice, leave is refused unless the child has been orphaned or has no one capable of caring for them in their country of origin. A minority of unaccompanied or separated children are granted leave to enter and remain as school students 27 but this only happens if they are going to a visitor can remain in the U.K. is six months, attend a private fee paying school. Another small unaccompanied or separated children who remain minority are granted leave to enter and remain on beyond this period become overstayers liable to SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM 30 the basis that they are going to be adopted in the U.K. 28 The restrictions on this latter form of immigration leave are considerable: leave is only granted if it can be shown that there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility and the child has lost or broken ties with the country of origin. The prospective adopters have to have obtained a positive home study report from a local authority or a designated adoption agency and a certificate of suitability from the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. 29 A significant number of unaccompanied or separated children are brought in as short term visitors 30 but with the intention that they will stay much longer. Since the maximum period of time administrative removal 31 if their presence is discovered. They also run the risk of being deemed to be illegal entrants if it was revealed that they always intended to remain longer than the six months initially applied for. A condition of such leave is that the visitor genuinely intends only to remain for the period stated in the application and does not intend to study at a school funded by the U.K. Government. As an illegal entrant the unaccompanied or separated child is also liable to removal under Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971. Many of the placements with relatives or family friends are intended to and do benefit the unaccompanied or separated children involved. They are also the extension of a practice which is widespread in 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 21 and 22: It then added that “although chil
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: There was no comparable age differe
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
Page 75 and 76: e safe to let the child go and live
Page 79 and 80: case, that adult is advised to info
Page 81 and 82:
The official justification for thes
Page 83 and 84:
Asylum Support Team has a case load
Page 85 and 86:
days and a second review after thre
Page 87 and 88:
provides access to rehabilitation a
Page 89 and 90:
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
Page 91 and 92:
who the child must try to relate to
Page 93 and 94:
adult in their life to speak on the
Page 95 and 96:
8.3 Role of a Legal Guardian rights
Page 97 and 98:
asylum application and monitor the
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
do once I got to London. The pictur
Page 103 and 104:
Some social services departments do
Page 105 and 106:
■ 5. The screening interview shou
Page 107 and 108:
eturn to a country requiring servic
Page 109 and 110:
■ 6. The syllabus for the Accredi
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
this research believe that it is no
Page 115 and 116:
A recent White Paper 13 states that
Page 117 and 118:
an important and distinct role to p
Page 119 and 120:
for Determining Refugee Status. 30
Page 121 and 122:
draws on a small number of other re
Page 123 and 124:
■ 3. UNHCR also states that the q
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
contact the child via social servic
Page 133 and 134:
It is not possible to ascertain the
Page 135 and 136:
leave to remain if it was unlikely
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
“Unaccompanied children are not g
Page 141 and 142:
5 IND. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
until they turn 18, whichever is th
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
“There are some exceptionally goo
Page 153 and 154:
could have been allowed. In one of
Page 155 and 156:
esisting removal to their countries
Page 157 and 158:
■ 3. The Law Society and the Lega
Page 159 and 160:
determinations we analyzed this did
Page 161 and 162:
42 Interview with Laura Brownlees,
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
should resolve this difficulty. The
Page 167 and 168:
A number of legal representatives b
Page 169 and 170:
Department at appeals by unaccompan
Page 171 and 172:
Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
Page 173 and 174:
Basis Upon Which Appeals Were Allow
Page 175 and 176:
Recommendations 14 Immigration Rule
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
concern the plethora of evidence of
Page 181 and 182:
As a consequence of these restricti
Page 183 and 184:
■ ■ accommodate unaccompanied o
Page 185 and 186:
that the vast majority of referrals
Page 187 and 188:
ecause of long waiting lists and be
Page 189 and 190:
which would have provided for a leg
Page 191 and 192:
screening interview and do not real
Page 193 and 194:
■ 9.9 The interviewer should alwa
Page 195 and 196:
excessive delay in reaching a decis
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
children, or anyone who had been re
Page 201 and 202:
appeal. The Asylum Policy Unit has
Page 203 and 204:
and adjudicators rarely prevented t
Page 205 and 206:
22 Information provided by Ailish K
Page 207 and 208:
A P P E N D I X 1 Glossary of Terms
Page 209 and 210:
Bibliography Amnesty International.
Page 211 and 212:
Immigration Advisory Service. Submi
Page 213 and 214:
FOR MORE INFORMATION PHOTOGRAPHY CR
show all

Hosted by www.ijjo.org

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?