Boys aged 12 and even younger are among those risking their lives in waiting to cross the Channel as stowaways, according to a Sunday Times exclusive (March 2009).
Two thirds of children under the care of Croydon Council have arrived in the borough as unaccompanied asylum seekers, according to the local press (March 2009).
Local authorities in England are still testing how best to identify child trafficking victims just one month before the UK becomes a signatory to a European convention on trafficking.
Trafficked children in Wales could be left at risk because of a "culture of disbelief". This was a finding in the report published (March 2009) by End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (Ecpat).
The Home Office (March 2009) is prepared to backtrack on the use of X-rays to assess the age of young asylum seekers, after a legal adviser confirmed that they could be classified as an assault. Reports can be read here and here.
RefugeeMap has been launched (March 2009) as an online collaborative source of accessible information on refugee situations, news and policy, and volunteering opportunities in Britain. A project of STAR (Student Action for Refugees), RefugeeMap is intended for volunteers, especially young people, working with refugees.
In a High Court test case (March 2009), two separated young men are using paediatric specialist's assessments of their ages (14 years and 15 years and ten months, respectively) to challenge their classification as adults. The case has been widely reported, for example in The Guardian, The Daily Mail and Here and There.
Government guidelines on the treatment of child asylum seekers are being "routinely flouted" by UK Border Agency staff, according to the charity Refugee and Migrant Justice in its report Does every child matter? Children seeking asylum in Britain (March 2009). The full report appears here and the executive summary here.
"Unaccompanied refugee and migrant children are among the most vulnerable people on earth," writes Mara Snyder (March 2009) in Unaccompanied Minor Refugee Children in the United States: Their Difficult Search for Legal Identity, Safety and Family.
Local authorities in England are still testing how best to identify child trafficking victims just one month before the UK becomes a signatory to a European convention on trafficking, according to Children and Young People (February 2009).
Children are physically and psychologically less able than adults to provide for their own needs or to protect themselves from harm, according to One Stop Resource for Home and Family (February 2009).
"Despite the right to seek asylum established under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Europe is not providing refugees with an alternative to placing themselves in the hands of smugglers and traffickers in their attempt to reach protection." This is the thrust of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) report (February 2009) What price does a refugee pay to reach Europe? The report draws together a number of testimonies grouped according to four themes: dangerous journeys; human rights violations in transit countries; abuses suffered at the EU borders; and denial of access to the asylum procedure.
In March 2007, the government proposed fundamental reforms to the support and management of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. In January 2009, the UK Border Agency published Better Outcomes: the way forward, improving the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. It outlined the plan to move young asylum seekers to specialist local authorities so as to reduce the pressure on port-of-entry authorities mainly in the South East and to developing specialist services "to properly protect this vulnerable group of young people". However, Children and Young People Now reports (12 February 2009), the plans have stalled.
The Court of Appeal has ruled (10 February 2009) in the complex case of an a young asylum seeker, whose claim to be aged 15 was disputed, and over whom two local authorities disagreed as to which of them had responsibility for the young man. It throws an important light on the requirements on the Children Act. Nearly Legal comments on the matter in 'Mersey Paradise?' (scroll down for this entry).
As a result of its Vulnerable Women's Project, The Refugee Council has published (5 February 2009) evidence of rape and sexual violence experienced by refugee women, some of whom are under the age of 18.
The New Asylum Model (NAM) was introduced in 2006 to speed up asylum applications. The National Audit Office (NAO) report Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency (published 23 January 2009) shows that the Model, and particularly the case ownership approach, has improved parts of the asylum process. But it is not yet working as well as it could. The Refugee Council has commented on the report.
The welfare of children within Britain's immigration system is a number one priority, according to new UK Border Agency Code of Practice on Children, which came into force on 6 January 2009. While welcoming the new code, The Refugee Council still has concerns for the welfare of age-disputed children, children in detention and children who are removed to 'safe' third countries. The Institute of Race Relations argues that the Code of Practice will not adequately protect children from the harm caused by immigration procedures.
The Court of Appeal (January 2009) has held that, where an unaccompanied child seeking asylum appealed against the refusal of his claim and removal directions, it was necessary for the immigration judge, when considering that child's human rights, to determine whether the reception facilities for the child on return were adequate. It was not solely an issue for the Secretary of State for the Home Department to determine. Here is further detail on the case.
Children fleeing war-torn countries have contributed to a dramatic increase in the number of young people in foster care in Northamptonshire. "They're the most vulnerable children we're going to see," comments a councillor, as reported (January 2009) by the local press.