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| Unaccompanied child refugees to be dispersed across UK | |
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| A new national dispersal scheme for unaccompanied child asylum seekers in Britain is to get under way in July as Home Office ministers prepare to announce a new scheme to take Syrian child refugees directly from camps in the Middle East. | A new national dispersal scheme for unaccompanied child asylum seekers in Britain is to get under way in July as Home Office ministers prepare to announce a new scheme to take Syrian child refugees directly from camps in the Middle East. |
| The number of unaccompanied child refugees in Britain has reached 4,029, with many concentrated in Kent and Croydon where they first made their claims for asylum on arrival in Britain. | The number of unaccompanied child refugees in Britain has reached 4,029, with many concentrated in Kent and Croydon where they first made their claims for asylum on arrival in Britain. |
| The immigration minister, James Brokenshire, has told MPs it is clear that a national response is needed to help councils such as Kent and Croydon “promote a fair and equitable distribution of cases across the country in a way that protects the best interests of those children”. | The immigration minister, James Brokenshire, has told MPs it is clear that a national response is needed to help councils such as Kent and Croydon “promote a fair and equitable distribution of cases across the country in a way that protects the best interests of those children”. |
| Precise details of how the national dispersal scheme will work and how it will be funded will not be announced until after the local elections, but Brokenshire made clear ministers were prepared to use new “reserve powers” in the current immigration bill to compel councils to take unaccompanied child refugees if the voluntary scheme does not work. | Precise details of how the national dispersal scheme will work and how it will be funded will not be announced until after the local elections, but Brokenshire made clear ministers were prepared to use new “reserve powers” in the current immigration bill to compel councils to take unaccompanied child refugees if the voluntary scheme does not work. |
| “My intention is that it should be voluntary and the statutory arrangements provide underpinning if those arrangements do not operate as we, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services anticipate,” Brokenshire told a House of Lords committee on Wednesday. | “My intention is that it should be voluntary and the statutory arrangements provide underpinning if those arrangements do not operate as we, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services anticipate,” Brokenshire told a House of Lords committee on Wednesday. |
| Ministers say they are “keen to avoid a repeat of the situation in Kent last summer” when the county council struggled to cope with the numbers arriving as the European refugee crisis intensified. Kent county council is currently responsible for 900 unaccompanied child asylum seekers, mostly through foster care. They have placed 300 in other local authority areas. | Ministers say they are “keen to avoid a repeat of the situation in Kent last summer” when the county council struggled to cope with the numbers arriving as the European refugee crisis intensified. Kent county council is currently responsible for 900 unaccompanied child asylum seekers, mostly through foster care. They have placed 300 in other local authority areas. |
| Home Office figures show that the number of unaccompanied child asylum seekers arriving in Britain rose by 56% in the year to 2015, to 3,043. | Home Office figures show that the number of unaccompanied child asylum seekers arriving in Britain rose by 56% in the year to 2015, to 3,043. |
| Brokenshire wrote to local authorities last week confirming the existing rates of Home Office funding for looking after unaccompanied child refugees, including the rates for local authorities willing to accept the transfer of unaccompanied children from Kent. | Brokenshire wrote to local authorities last week confirming the existing rates of Home Office funding for looking after unaccompanied child refugees, including the rates for local authorities willing to accept the transfer of unaccompanied children from Kent. |
| The new national voluntary scheme due to come into effect in July will transfer legal responsibility for the child refugees from Kent and other local authorities caring for high numbers to the newly participating councils. | The new national voluntary scheme due to come into effect in July will transfer legal responsibility for the child refugees from Kent and other local authorities caring for high numbers to the newly participating councils. |
| Brokenshire told peers on Wednesday that the government would also shortly announce a scheme to take more Syrian child refugees directly from camps in the Middle East. | Brokenshire told peers on Wednesday that the government would also shortly announce a scheme to take more Syrian child refugees directly from camps in the Middle East. |
| He made clear that the new scheme would be over and above the current commitment to take 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees by the end of this parliament. The new Syrian child refugee scheme has been drawn up on the basis of detailed discussions with the United Nations high commissioner for refugees. | He made clear that the new scheme would be over and above the current commitment to take 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees by the end of this parliament. The new Syrian child refugee scheme has been drawn up on the basis of detailed discussions with the United Nations high commissioner for refugees. |
| But the immigration minister once again ruled out demands for the British government to take 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees from within Europe. Brokenshire claimed such a move would only lead to traffickers encouraging more child refugees to make the dangerous sea voyage across the Mediterranean. | But the immigration minister once again ruled out demands for the British government to take 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees from within Europe. Brokenshire claimed such a move would only lead to traffickers encouraging more child refugees to make the dangerous sea voyage across the Mediterranean. |
| The children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, giving evidence to the Lords’ committee on unaccompanied minors in the EU, said too many unaccompanied asylum seekers went missing from local authority care after they had been allocated a home. | The children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, giving evidence to the Lords’ committee on unaccompanied minors in the EU, said too many unaccompanied asylum seekers went missing from local authority care after they had been allocated a home. |
| Overall, she said, the UK offered “support and protection in a reasonably coherent and good way”. However, some “critical” areas continued to present “real difficulties to young people”. She reported that many children found the process of age assessment very difficult. | Overall, she said, the UK offered “support and protection in a reasonably coherent and good way”. However, some “critical” areas continued to present “real difficulties to young people”. She reported that many children found the process of age assessment very difficult. |
| She was concerned, by contrast, at the slowness of French authorities to register and process unaccompanied children in Calais, and said she had requested to meet the French minister responsible to discuss the issue. | She was concerned, by contrast, at the slowness of French authorities to register and process unaccompanied children in Calais, and said she had requested to meet the French minister responsible to discuss the issue. |
| Concerned by the numbers of children risking their lives to come to the UK, she had recently offered to assist a British charity based in Calais, Help Refugees, to help it locate missing children who had left France and successfully made their way to the UK. | Concerned by the numbers of children risking their lives to come to the UK, she had recently offered to assist a British charity based in Calais, Help Refugees, to help it locate missing children who had left France and successfully made their way to the UK. |
| “I was very concerned about young people putting their lives at risk, and there had been one fatality and a number of near-misses,” she told the committee. This month she intervened to help find an 11-year-old originally from Afghanistan who had disappeared after arriving in the UK. He was later located in Walthamstow. | “I was very concerned about young people putting their lives at risk, and there had been one fatality and a number of near-misses,” she told the committee. This month she intervened to help find an 11-year-old originally from Afghanistan who had disappeared after arriving in the UK. He was later located in Walthamstow. |
| She was contacted by Help Refugees this month when it received a text message from a seven-year-old travelling in the back of a van saying he was running out of oxygen. The police were called, the van was located and stopped and the child released. | She was contacted by Help Refugees this month when it received a text message from a seven-year-old travelling in the back of a van saying he was running out of oxygen. The police were called, the van was located and stopped and the child released. |