New guidelines prioritise welfare of young asylum seekers

UK Borders Agency staff must now follow a code of practice which states how children and young people should be treated while being detained or transferred into local authority care.

The code will eventually be superseded by a legal duty in the forthcoming Border, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, which will legally oblige the agency to consider welfare in the same way as every other UK authority that deals with children.

Under the code border agency staff must offer children in the immigration system  treatment that meets the same standard a UK child would receive. The child's interests must be made a primary consideration, and children must have their asylum applications dealt with quickly. The agency must identify children that might be at risk from harm.

Border and immigration minister Phil Woolas said: "It is right that the UK Border Agency is judged by the same standards as every other authority that deals with children. These rules bring together for the first time a common set of values all staff must abide by."