Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the United Kingdom
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Children seeking asylum status in the UK, without parents and guardians
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the United Kingdom, often abbreviated to UASC, are children who are outside their country of origin to seek asylum in the United Kingdom, are separated from parents and relatives, and are not in the care of someone who is responsible for doing so.[1]
Since unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are an international concern, there are several different definitions that apply to them within the UK.
The United Nations defines unaccompanied children as "children, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, who have been separated from both parents and other relatives and are not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so."[1] The United Nations defines separated children, a closely related group, as "children, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, who have been separated from both parents, or from their previous legal or customary primary caregiver, but not necessarily from other relatives. These may, therefore, include children being accompanied by adult family members."[2]
The UK Home Office defines unaccompanied asylum-seeking child as "a person under 18, or who, in the absence of documentary evidence establishing age, appears to be under that age, is applying for asylum in his or her own right and has no relative or guardian in the United Kingdom."[3]
All asylum-seekers in the UK are seeking refugee status. The UK abides by the UN definition of a refugee when determining refugee status. The UN defines a refugee as a person who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.[4]
Statistics
The number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children entering Great Britain varies from year to year. The following table shows the number of total applications for asylum received each year from 2006-2011.
Far more male unaccompanied asylum-seeking children enter the UK than female unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. This gap can be seen when the 2006-2011 applications are broken down by gender.
It is common for young asylum-seekers not to have any proof of age, either because it was lost or destroyed on their journey to the UK or because they never had any paperwork. Some may not know their own date of birth. In any given year a few hundred out of several thousand applicants have their age disputed by the authorities.[7] Where a young asylum-seeker's age is disputed by authorities, they may undergo an age assessment to provide an informed estimate. In 2016 just 370 of 9,800 child applicants were found to be over 18. This represents about 60% of asylum seekers who had their age disputed.[7]
Asylum process
In order to be able to make an application for asylum, a separated child must first be able to reach the UK. This has become more difficult in the last decade, with immigration officers being placed at ports and Eurostar stations and airline liaison officers being placed at airports to check the travel documens of anyone wishing to travel to the UK. If a young person is not legally able to enter the UK under the immigration rules, they may be turned back before ever formally entering the UK.[8] Assuming that they make it through the immigration controls, the next step is for a person to make a formal asylum application. This application can be made at the port of entry, at the Asylum Screening Unit in Croydon, or (only for children) at local immigration service enforcement offices.[9]
When the application is completed, children will go through a Screening Interview, in which they are asked about personal details, reasons for coming to the UK, and their journey.[9] As part of this process, the child receives immigration identification papers, including an Application Registration Card (ARC) confirming that the child has formally applied for asylum.[10] Children over the age of 12 are given a date for a First Reporting Event with a case owner as well as a Statement of Evidence Form. This form provides details of the asylum case and must be filed within 20 working days by a legal representative.[9]
Following the submission of the Statement of Evidence Form, children over twelve generally undergo an interview with an immigration official about their asylum application. This interview is supposed to establish whether the child qualifies either for refugee status under the Refugee Convention or for ill treatment under article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.[10] However, the interview does not always receive the scrutiny that it should. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate has confirmed that children's asylum applications receive less consideration than those of adults because case workers are influenced by the fact that even if a child's application is refused, that child will be granted a period of discretionary leave.[8]
The asylum process on a larger scale is also subject to incorrect decisions that later have to be overturned. In 2011, the courts overturned 26% of initial Home Office decisions—a figure that rose to 50% for women.[11]
Outcomes
There are four possible outcomes of the asylum claim: grant of asylum (refugee status); refusal of asylum but grant of humanitarian protection; refusal of asylum and humanitarian protection but grant of discretionary leave to remain; or refusal of asylum and any leave to remain.[9] Only a small number of UASC receive refugee status: 'only 2% of unaccompanied or separated children were granted asylum when they applied in 2004 and only about 12% of unaccompanied or separated children succeeded when they appealed against an initial refusal to grant them refugee status.'[8]
By far the most common outcome for separated children is a grant of discretionary leave to remain. Discretionary leave to remain is provided most frequently when there are inadequate return arrangements for these children in their country of origin.[10] This leave to remain is usually granted for three years or until the young person reaches 17 ½, whichever is sooner.[10] The child may appeal if he thinks he should have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, but only if he was initially granted more than twelve months' leave.[10] Both grants of humanitarian protection and of discretionary leave are still rejection of asylum claims, so the young people granted either of these have the right to appeal this decision.[10]
Social work
Before the age of eighteen, separated children are the responsibility of the local authority in which he or she is present.[10] Upon the arrival of an unaccompanied child, the social services department of the local authority assesses the child's needs and provides assistance.[12]
As with British children in care, though, care itself can take several different forms. If the unaccompanied asylum-seeking child is under 16 at the time of arrival, he or she is generally placed in foster care.[10] Those who are 16 or 17 at the time of arrival—the majority of these children—may be placed in foster care, but generally are placed in semi-independent accommodation, i.e. in 'shared flats or supervised accommodation'.[12] Most unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are supported under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989.[10] Under Section 20, children's services must financially support young people until the age of 18 regardless of immigration status. The amount of financial support varies according to different local authorities’ policies and placement.[10] The "Hillingdon judgment" of 2003 (R (Behre) v London Borough of Hillingdon) established that after-care services must be provided until the young person reaches the age of 21, or beyond if they are in full-time education.[13] In a subsequent legal challenge (R ex parte London Borough of Hillingdon v Secretary of State for Education and Skills), the local authority unsuccessfully challenged a decision of the Secretary of State to reduce the grant paid to the Council to support service provision.[14]
Generally speaking, most local authorities have sent returns to the UK Border Agency (now superseded by UK Visas and Immigration) each month informing the agency how many days a separated child has received support.[10]
Pathways at eighteen
Pathway planning refers to the process of social workers planning out the different possibilities that an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child may be facing when leaving care and potentially facing a change in status. The pathway plan should detail how a young person's needs will be met, and carried out every six months.[10] Pathway planning is a part of leaving care for all care leavers, not just UASC, but it is particularly necessary for separated children.
Many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are facing a change in status as they approach 18, as most are initially given discretionary leave to remain until age 17 ½.[10] This expiration of leave affects not only their benefits but also their ability to remain in the UK at all. To extend leave to remain, the young person has to apply for an extension of discretionary leave to remain prior to the expiration, but even applying on time does not guarantee outcomes.[10] Pathway planning at eighteen, therefore, covers similar options to those that refugees face while undergoing the initial asylum process. If the young person received refugee status upon first application, then he/she will retain that status upon turning eighteen and pathway planning is much simpler.[10]
If the unaccompanied asylum-seeking child initially was granted a period of discretionary leave, though, the process becomes more complicated. The young person may be granted an extension of discretionary leave to remain for another finite period, and thus has the ability to legally remain in the UK with full entitlements for another several years. Many young people, though, either have their applications rejected or do not put forth their applications to extend leave in advance of the deadline.[9] These young people may return to their countries voluntarily or involuntarily. However, there is a large group of young people who remain in the country even after their request for extended leave is denied. This group is referred to as "end of line/appeal rights exhausted", and are people "who have been refused asylum or any form of temporary protection or their leave to remain has expired (and an application to extend it refused), and they have exhausted all appeals".[10]
Although these people no longer have a legal right to remain in Britain, they have for one reason or another not been removed from the UK and instead remain. Non-removal can occur for any number of reasons, but most commonly it is because many countries have inadequate return procedures and it is complicated to ensure that people will be returned home safely. A common example of why people may remain in the UK is that the Home Office is frequently unable to obtain the travel documents that would allow a failed asylum-seeker to return to his country of origin.[10]
UN recommendations
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which the UK works to abide by, states that ‘the appointment of a competent guardian as expeditiously as possible, serves a key procedural safeguard to ensure respect for the best interests of an unaccompanied or separated child.’[15] A guardianship programme has recently completed its second year of a pilot in Scotland.[16] Though still small in scale, the programme has thus far been received fairly positively by the agencies that it interacts with. The Scottish Guardianship Service currently plans to continue offering guidance from guardians to former separated children over the age of eighteen.[17]
Agencies
Although there are many agencies that work with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, these are a few of the agencies that most frequently receive referrals.
Asylum Aid
Asylum Aid provides legal representation and other legal services to people in the UK seeking asylum.[18] This includes both children arriving with their parents and children who arrive as unaccompanied minors.[19]
CFAB works primarily to advise social workers on the options available for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. CFAB also undertakes independent risk assessments in order to assess the risk factors for an UASC who may be considering return to his or her country of origin. The agency additionally works to locate the family members of UASC to try to facilitate reunions.[21]
The Children's Society
The Children's Society has many programs that help refugee and asylum-seeking youth both in London, where many refugees are concentrated, and throughout the UK.[22] Blackburn Young Refugees provides mental and emotional support services to young refugees and asylum seekers in Blackburn.[23] New Londoners works in several capacities with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The program as a whole serves as an advocacy and support group for young asylum seekers, while its Supported Option Project provides advocacy and legal support specifically to UASC who have problems with their immigration status. New Londoners also operates a Destitution Project for young asylum seekers at risk of destitution or who are already destitute.[24] The West Midlands Refugee Programme provides mentorship to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Birmingham and Coventry, as well as housing a destitution project.[25]
Scottish Guardianship Service
As referenced above, the Scottish Guardianship Service has been piloting a system of guardianship in Scotland. The service is currently confined to Scotland, and is provided to every unaccompanied asylum-seeking child who is newly arrived to Scotland.[16] The role of a guardian in the program is to serve as a link between the many services that UASC receive, to help the youth understand the roles of the services and the intricacies of the immigration system, and to advocate on behalf of the child.[16]
Refugee Council
The Refugee Council's Children's Section part of the Asylum Support Partnership is a nationally operating service that works both directly with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and with those providing support, serving about 3,000 UASC each year.[26] Its Panel Advice Service helps these young people through the asylum seeking by providing direct advice, as well as working in conjunction with social workers who are assigned to work with the UASC.[27] The Children's Section also organizes educational classes, including English classes, and social activities in its office in Croydon.[28]
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A person keeps the status of asylum seeker until the right of asylum application has concluded.
Refugee law is the branch of international law which deals with the rights and duties states have vis-a-vis refugees. There are differences of opinion among international law scholars as to the relationship between refugee law and international human rights law or humanitarian law.
The Refugee Council is a UK based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The Refugee Council also produces many reports and educational material relating to refugee issues, and lobbies politicians and the media on these issues. The Council works in partnership with many other refugee organisations, including the British Red Cross, Scottish Refugee Council, Welsh Refugee Council, North of England Refugee Service, Northern Refugee Centre, and Refugee Action.
Parole, in the immigration laws of the United States, generally refers to official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the United States, under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), without formal admission, and while remaining an applicant for admission.
The United States recognizes the right of asylum for individuals seeking protections from persecution, as specified by international and federal law. People who seek protection while outside the U.S. are termed refugees, while people who seek protection from inside the U.S. are termed asylum seekers. Those who are granted asylum are termed asylees.
An unaccompanied minor is a child without the presence of a legal guardian.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with locations in the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Kenya, and a national network of nearly 200 partner agencies that provide support for those experiencing forced and voluntary displacement.
Child migration or "children in migration or mobility" is the movement of people ages 3–18 within or across political borders, with or without their parents or a legal guardian, to another country or region. They may travel with or without legal travel documents. They may arrive to the destination country as refugees, asylum seekers, or economic migrants.
Nearly half of all refugees are children, and almost one in three children living outside their country of birth is a refugee. These numbers encompass children whose refugee status has been formally confirmed, as well as children in refugee-like situations.
Asylum in Australia has been granted to many refugees since 1945, when half a million Europeans displaced by World War II were given asylum. Since then, there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East, with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is a program of the Administration for Children and Families, an office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, created with the passing of the United States Refugee Act of 1980. The Office of Refugee Resettlement offers support for refugees seeking safe haven within the United States, including victims of human trafficking, those seeking asylum from persecution, survivors of torture and war, and unaccompanied alien children. The mission and purpose of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is to assist in the relocation process and provide needed services to individuals granted asylum within the United States.
The 2014 American immigration crisis was a surge in unaccompanied children and women from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) seeking entrance to the United States in 2014. According to U.S. law, an unaccompanied alien child refers to a person under 18 years of age, who has no lawful immigration status in the U.S., and who does not have a legal guardian to provide physical custody and care.
Migrant crisis is the intense difficulty, trouble, or danger situation in the receiving state due to the movements of large groups of immigrants escaping from the conditions which negatively affected their situation at the country of origin (departure). The "crisis" situation is not the refugee numbers but the system's failure to respond in an orderly way to the government's legal obligations. Some notable crises are; European migrant crisis, English Channel migrant crisis and World War II evacuation and expulsion.
Transnational child protection refers to the protection of children from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect in an international setting. When a non-national child comes into contact with public authorities and service providers, a series of checks, assessments and immediate measures sets in to identify the child and to assess her or his situation. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home, including in their country of origin, residence or a third country. Article 2 of the Convention provides for the right to non-discrimination, meaning children have the right to protection regardless of the national origin or status of the child or his or her parents or legal guardians.
Voluntary return or voluntary repatriation is usually the return of an illegal immigrant or over-stayer, a rejected asylum seeker, a refugee or displaced person, or an unaccompanied minor; sometimes it is the emigration of a second-generation immigrant who makes an autonomous decision to return to their ethnic homeland when they are unable or unwilling to remain in the host country.
The Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program is a U.S. refugee and parole program established in November 2014 by the Obama administration. It is a refugee protection and family reunification pathway on which several thousand families rely and for which tens of thousands more families are technically eligible. The CAM Program was designed to permit certain children and other eligible family members to escape life-threatening danger and other humanitarian crises and to reunite with parents or relatives in the United States. This program provides certain qualified parents and legal guardians to apply for their children and other eligible family members, who are nationals of and physically present in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, to come to the United States as refugees or parolees. The CAM Program has been operational from 2014 to 2017-18 when it was terminated over a series of actions; and from 2021 to the present, when it was restarted in two phases, first for some previously closed cases and then for new applications. To date, most CAM Program beneficiaries have been Salvadoran families of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, making up 86 percent of applicants from the 2014–2017. Since the Biden administration restarted the CAM Program for new applications, the CAM Program has had expanded eligibility criteria, including parents and guardians with pending asylum applications or U visa petitions, which should enable many more Guatemalans and Hondurans to apply.
Immigration detention of refugee and asylum seeking children in Thailand violates the rights of children under international law. The undocumented migrant children are detained for indefinite and prolonged periods without proper access to legal support. Thailand is key transit route, host and final destination for refugees seeking asylum in southeast Asia and Australia. During the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in May 2016, various human rights issues including detention of refugee and asylum seeking children were reported. Currently, there are no effective alternatives to immigration detention and all sectors of population including children are subject to detention.
The Northern American Triangle refers to the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Unaccompanied Alien Children is a United States government classification for children in immigration custody and the name of a program operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to house and care for them. The term designates unaccompanied minors who are aliens, typically those who have been apprehended outside of a legal port of entry or judged inadmissible upon their entry.
References
1 2 UN Declaration on Rights of the Child. Comment 6, Section 7.
↑ UN Declaration on Rights of the Child. Comment 6, Section 8.
1 2 3 Bhabha, Jacqueline; Finch, Nadine (2006). "Seeking Asylum Alone: Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Refugee Protection in the U.K.". Human Rights at Harvard. Cambridge, MA.
1 2 3 4 5 Dorling, Kamea; Hurrell, Anita (2012). Navigating the System: Advice provision for young refugees and migrants. London: Coram Children's Legal Centre. p.9.
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