Earlier this month, Al Aynsley-Green wrote to the London Borough ofHillingdon accusing it of unlawfully moving unaccompanied asylum-seekingchildren from the looked-after to the leaving care system - where theyhave fewer rights - in an attempt to save money (Children Now, 17-23January).
A spokeswoman for the commissioner said: "We have had a constructivemeeting with (Hillingdon council's) acting head of children's and youngpeople's services, their asylum manager and their lawyer. We also spoketo a number of young asylum-seeking children.
"We raised our concerns about whether Hillingdon was usingdiscriminatory practices towards young asylum seekers, and requestedsome further information. There is a continuing dialogue." Last week,Home Secretary John Reid admitted that the Government had operated an"unlawful" policy over the detention of scores of young asylum seekers.His statement was made during a High Court case, brought byasylum-seeking children who had been treated as adults on their arrivalin the UK and placed in detention centres.
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