Hosted by www.ijjo.org

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter 4 | Monitoring Entry To Provide Protection Family Support Team has also identified a number of trafficked children. Professionals working in East Anglia report 37 unaccompanied or separated Vietnamese girls have arrived at Stanstead Airport and later disappeared whilst being cared for by Cambridge or Essex social services departments. During the Christmas period of 2005, social workers in Norwich believed that a number of Chinese unaccompanied or separated children who arrived at Norwich Airport had been trafficked and were destined for prostitution in Kings Lynn. However, neither the police nor social services were able to assist them as they were immediately put back on the plane by the Immigration Service. South Yorkshire Police led an investigation into the trafficking of a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl to the U.K. for sexual exploitation. In March 2005, three men were found guilty of trafficking her into and within the U.K. 38 In the U.K., as in other European Union states, the police have noted the involvement of Balkan and East European organized crime groups in human trafficking for sexual exploitation, with Albanians playing a major role. 39 This conclusion is echoed by the lawyers and social workers for those who had been trafficked. There is also evidence of Nigerian, Chinese, and Vietnamese trafficking rings. These rings tend to have their own distinctive methods of controlling the unaccompanied or separated children they have trafficked. Albanian rings rely on extreme violence and threats of further violence; Nigerian rings rely on initiation ceremonies and the unaccompanied or separated children’s animistic beliefs. The traffickers often abduct unaccompanied or separated children who are socially isolated or who have already been separated from their family. Many think they are being transported to seek protection and are shocked by the outcome of their trips. “N” was 12 when she left home in Romania to escape from an abusive father. She asked a family friend for help. He took her to Serbia and sold her. She was prostituted there and then in Macedonia, Albania, and Italy before being resold and brought to the U.K. Once in the U.K. she was able to escape and seek assistance from a social services department. 40 47 Hosted by www.ijjo.org
“G” was a 16-year-old Christian girl from the north tional welfare benefits, and four for forced labour of Nigeria. She was denied access to secondary in restaurants or street selling. Information provided school and assaulted because she would not con- by other areas similarly suggests that unaccompa- vert to Islam. Her parents contacted an agent and nied or separated children are being trafficked for paid him to bring her to the U.K. to claim asylum. a variety of purposes which include child prostitu- However, the agent subsequently sold her into tion, domestic slavery, benefit fraud, forced labour, prostitution in the U.K. 41 and even — it has been suggested — ritual killings. In 2004, social workers in Glasgow discovered a num- “Xia” was just 12 when she was brought into the ber of very young West African unaccompanied or U.K. and placed with a family in South London. separated children who appeared to be domestic She was forced to sleep in their garage and had slaves in households 42 in the city. When they visited to work from 6 a.m. to late at night doing all their some addresses they found children hidden under laundry, cleaning, preparing meals, and caring for beds or in cupboards. 43 Manchester City Council’s the children whilst they were in the house. She was Asylum Support Team estimates that two or three not allowed to go out and was only given leftovers unaccompanied or separated children go missing to eat. Her plight was only discovered when a each year. 44 When they do the team contacts the neighbour reported her concern to social services. police to investigate the possibility of child trafficking. By then she had acted as a domestic slave for two Research 45 conducted in London boroughs and a half years and was severely traumatized. 46 from January to December 2003 revealed that 17 boroughs were looking after unaccompanied or “Mabama”, who was Nigerian, was just 11 when separated children who had been trafficked. Details her mother “sold” her to a man who took her to were provided for 35 of these children but there Dublin to act as a servant for his wife. She was were an additional 15 trafficked children for whom never allowed to leave the house and had to do no data was available. Of these 13 had been traf- all the household chores and look after a child of SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM 48 ficked for the purpose of child prostitution, 14 for domestic servitude, one for both prostitution and domestic servitude, three in order to claim addi- five and a baby of six months. When she tried to contact the police, she was sent to London and placed in another household where again she was exploited as a domestic slave. She was later permitted to attend school and they contacted social services because of concerns over cuts and bruises on her body. It was later discovered that the woman whose house she was living in used to beat her with electrical flex and a large wooden spoon. Social services also discovered that this woman had paid Mabama’s mother for her “services.” 47 A National Action Plan to combat trafficking in the U.K. has still not been instituted. However the Government launched a consultation process on such 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 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: subsequently abducted by their form
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 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:
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGD
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?