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who the child must try to relate to in order to comply
with the demands of the asylum determination
process and obtain the support needed to survive
pending a decision.
For example, the child might have to go to social
services to collect his or her financial support on
a fortnightly basis, apply to a Student Welfare Officer
1 in order to obtain a grant to pay for travel to
college, ask the Connexions worker 2 to help obtain
a place in further education, and meet with the key
worker provided by the accommodation provider. 3
The child also has to give detailed instructions on
the asylum case to the legal representative. 4 In
some cases an unaccompanied or separated child
may not even have a named social worker. 5
since none of the available adults see themselves as
having the competence or statutory duty to assist
Unaccompanied or separated children have been
the child through the asylum determination process.
greatly assisted by welfare officers attached to schools
or colleges 6 or advocates employed by non-govern-
This leads to unaccompanied or separated children
mental organizations (NGOs) such as Save the
attending their asylum appeal hearings alone. In
Children U.K. 7 Nevertheless, these children remain
one case, two very young children arrived for their
uncertain about the support they can expect from
appeal hearing alone and the Regional Adjudicator
national and local governmental organizations and
had to call the police to ensure their safety even
indeed at times these bodies do try to offload their
though they were accommodated by a local author-
SEEKING ASYLUM ALONE | UNITED KINGDOM
90
responsibilities onto other agencies. In particular,
some local authorities appear to expect Connexions
Personal Advisers to undertake a role more usually
played by a local authority social worker or personal
adviser and college welfare officers to fund educational
expenses, absolving the local authority social
workers themselves from doing anything more than
providing a telephone number for emergencies and
a financial support every fortnight. 8 This causes real
practical difficulties for children. The lack of effective
adult support also has a negative effect on the child’s
ability to disclose the full extent of past persecution
and cope with the asylum determination process. It may
even impinge on the child’s ability to comply with
the requirements of the asylum determination process,
ity. 9 In another case a young boy was brought to
court by a mini cab driver paid by the local authority
accommodating him. 10
8.1 Dual Role of the Legal
Representative
Often the only adult who plays a consistent
role in the unaccompanied or separated
child’s asylum determination process is
the legal representative.
“With a lot of the kids I have represented, I am the
only person they have continuous contact with.” 11
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