Charities slam use of unregulated accommodation for child refugees
Fiona Simpson
Friday, July 30, 2021
A raft of charities have written to the Education Secretary criticising the use of “inappropriate accommodation” such as immigration centres and hotels to house child asylum-seekers who arrive in England.
The coalition of 69 charities, led by Children England, has raised concerns that “extremely vulnerable children are being held in short-term holding facilities and accommodated in hotels with very limited adult supervision and care”.
“These facilities are completely inappropriate as accommodation for children, and were never intended to meet this purpose.”
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New children arriving into the county are placed in the care of Border Force after Kent County Council was forced, for the second year running, to stop accepting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) into its care due to hundreds of boats coming into Dover.
The letter, signed by organisations including The Refugee Council, The Children’s Society and Action for Children, notes that new legislation banning the use of unregulated supported accommodation, such as hotels and hostels, for children aged 16 and under comes into force in September.
“The Home Office’s continued holding of children either in the Kent Intake Unit or in contingency accommodation, such as hotels, not only breaches their child welfare obligations under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, it could also amount to an unlawful deprivation of liberty and a breach of the Children Act 1989 which is clear that corporate parenting duties rest with local authorities,” the letter states.
“The Department for Education must take the lead in ensuring these children are treated as children first.”
The organisations are calling on Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to ensure “that appropriate lawful care and accommodation is provided to all unaccompanied children arriving in the UK”.
The government has also been urged to reform the National Transfer Scheme - a programme enabling councils to sign up to a voluntary rota to accept UASC into their care.
Responding to the letter, Carolyne Willow, director of children’s rights charity Article 39, said: “Desperate, frightened and traumatised children arriving in the UK on boats should be met by the best our country has to offer.
“With the Children Act 1989, we have gold standard legislation which should be guaranteeing these highly vulnerable children care and protection from local authorities. Yet the Education Secretary has authorised the Home Office to put them into hotels with minimal adult supervision instead. This once again exposes a care system which is being starved of funding, and ministers tolerating the intolerable when it comes to children who rely on the state to nurture and protect them.”
Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, added: “Every child, no matter what their background or where they are from, deserves to be brought up with love and support.
“We understand the pressures facing councils. That’s why it’s vital the Department for Education and Home Office agree reforms to the National Transfer Scheme as a matter of urgency to ensure it works far more effectively and that all children can get the accommodation and care they deserve.
“In the longer term we need a proper solution that operates in the best interests of each individual child - where their voices are heard and they are not shunted around to whichever local authority is willing to take them. We cannot keep ignoring the situation and pretending it will go away.”
A government spokesperson said: “The asylum system is being exploited by criminal gangs who facilitate dangerous, unnecessary and illegal small boat crossings.
“Our Nationality and Borders Bill will fix this broken system to deter these dangerous and illegal crossings.
“To meet our legal duties additional temporary accommodation is being used to house asylum-seeking children in safe and secure accommodation, before placements can take place through the National Transfer Scheme.
“We continue to work with all local authorities as well as the Department for Education to ensure needs are met.”