Call for care system to offer equal protection for refugee and migrant children
Nina Jacobs
Saturday, May 7, 2022
A group of organisations that supports refugee and migrant children is calling on the Care Review to ensure there is equality in the way the care system treats and protects these young people.
The Refugee & Migrant Children’s Consortium, a collective of non-governmental organisations working to uphold the rights and needs of young refugees and migrants, says every child in the care system deserves equal treatment and protection regardless of how they came to be looked after.
It urges the independent review of children’s social care to challenge what it claims is the government’s “increasing refusal” to protect the rights of non-British children and young people under legislation, policy and practice relating to children in care.
Unless the specific needs of non-British children and young people are included in the review’s recommendations - and in turn the government’s subsequent Care Review implementation plans - the process will “fail some of the most vulnerable children in the system today”, it says.
“We cannot accept a 12-year-old being sent to live in a hotel alone because they carry the label ‘asylum seeker’, or children subjected to extreme levels of poverty because their parents are barred from claiming benefits, or access to vital services, education and support being withheld while children’s ages are routinely disbelieved.
“There is no place in our child protection for this. A lowering of the standard of care received by any child degrades the system as a whole. Every single child in the care system deserves equal treatment and equal protection,” the consortium said.
It is estimated that one in 10 children in England, and more than 10,000 care leavers, are not British citizens.
Due to their life experiences, some of these young people will have additional needs around trauma, disability or education, it adds.
“In this, however, they are no different from British children in care who may also need additional support.
“Non-British children will also need help to address their immigration and nationality issues in the long-term so that their immigration status is not a barrier to their care,” the consortium explains.
The latest research published by the South London Refugee Association (SLRA) warns the cost to local authorities that delay providing help on immigration and nationality issues could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds per year.
The report, Taking Care: How local authorities can best address immigration issues of children in care, says a citizenship application for a child costs £1,012.
By comparison, waiting to resolve immigration issues until a young person has left care could cost as much as £130,000 in Home Office fees and support with living costs while that young person is unable to claim benefits, the report states.
“Lack of immigration status or citizenship prevents children from being able to lead full lives.
“For older children in care and care leavers, resolving these issues early means they avoid unnecessary complications with everyday activities like applying for jobs, setting up a bank account or renting accommodation,” SLRA said.
Meanwhile, the Guardian has reported young people under the age of 18 travelling alone are excluded from the Homes for Ukraine programme, leaving them with no route to the UK.
It says the government will only allow unaccompanied minors to be eligible for the scheme if they are reuniting with a parent or legal guardian in the UK.