Protection for asylum-seeking children

- What are the government's plans for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children?

It depends which policy lead you're talking to. The Department for Children, Schools and Families is responsible for overall children's policy and the implementation of Every Child Matters, while the Home Office oversees immigration policy. Although unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are entitled to the same protections available to other children who are looked after by a local authority, they can still fall victim to tensions in policy and practice in welfare and immigration law.

- Why?

Immigration requirements come first - and that makes all the difference. The Home Office's Border & Immigration Agency (BIA) has just issued its response to the recent consultation on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and is consulting on a code of practice called Keeping Children Safe from Harm. This guidance covers asylum-seeking children who arrive unaccompanied, including those who have been trafficked, as well as those who enter the UK with their families.