Local authority concern over child refugees aged six ‘arriving alone in Britain’

Children as young as six are arriving in Britain without their parents to claim asylum, it has emerged.

The disclosure came as local authority officials gave evidence to a Lords committee on the issue of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors.

Andrew Ireland, corporate director of social care, health and well-being at Kent County council, told peers: “For the cohort that come through Kent, I’m often left to wonder … the number of countries that these young people have passed through, some of whom clearly are well under the age of 18.

“Some are clearly borderline, but many are not.

“How, not so much the immigration or nationality legislation, but straightforward child protection activity in some other countries allows that to happen so that they arrive in Dover or through the Channel Tunnel, some 13, 14, some as young as six recently. That is very exceptional.”

Kent County Council said after the hearing that a six-year-old child had arrived among a group of unaccompanied asylum-seeking under-18s.

An unaccompanied asylum-seeking child is officially defined as someone who is under 18 who applies for asylum in his or her own right and who has no relative or guardian in the UK.

Councils have a legal duty to care for under-18s who arrive in their area from abroad seeking international protection and Kent has seen a dramatic spike in the number in its care amid the international migration crisis.

Mr Ireland told the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee that the council had seen a net increase of more than 500 under-18s in the last year, creating “enormous pressure” in providing accommodation and placements.

The council has been forced to move some children to other areas and called for a nationwide “dispersal system” to be put in place.

More than 800 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are currently in Kent’s care, compared to approximately 350 at this time last year.

Mr Ireland said: “My concern … is that we are at the beginning of the season where the number of arrivals traditionally starts to increase.

“If we see a significant increase in numbers of arrivals without a national scheme in place it is going to place a huge burden on one particular local authority, albeit one of the largest local authorities.”

In some cases children in care in EU countries because they have been abandoned “in transit” to the UK are then claimed by their parents on arrival in Britain but there is no documentation to establish this, the committee heard.

Dr Paul Chadwick, of Croydon borough council in London, added: “It does raise questions for us how other member EU countries are fulfilling their child protection obligations when they allow the free movement of these children where there are clearly concerns about their identity and it is left to the UK authorities to try to resolve that when the child arrives.”

Concerns have been raised about possible sexual exploitation in schools, the panel was told.

Dr Chadwick said there can be “difficulties” with schools around age assessments.

“That schools are concerned about the possible sexual exploitation of pupils by adults who are claiming to be children and placed in school,” he said.

“I think that’s a very real concern.”

Nationally, a total of 1,080 unaccompanied children lodged claims in the final three months of last year – equivalent to 11 every day.

Town halls are responsible for costs including schooling, foster care, university fees and housing, and receive funding at a fixed rate from central government. Estimates have claimed the costs amount to up to £50,000 a year per child.

An NSPCC spokesman said: “This clearly highlights concerns about very young, unaccompanied children arriving in the UK who might be at risk of being trafficked or sexually exploited.

“Some of them may be fleeing war zones and persecution only to potentially fall prey to offenders waiting to exploit their vulnerability.

“This influx will undoubtedly be challenging for local authorities but as a society we cannot potentially allow child sexual exploitation to flourish on our shores.”

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