ARTICLES AND REPORTS | Separated Child Foundation

Breaking the wall of silence: practitioners' responses to trafficked children and young people is an important publication (June 2009) of research findings by Jenny J. Pearce, Patricia Hynes and Silvie Bovarnick for the NSPCC and the University of Bedfordshire. The report reveals the complexities involved in identifying and responding to the needs of children and young people who have been trafficked into and within the UK. It argues that trafficking, which is often hidden behind a wall of silence, is a process and not a one-off event. The full report can be downloaded here and the executive summary here.

Asylum seekers, including separated children, are denied material and other forms of support, according to Community Care (June 2009), either because social workers don't know the system or, where they do, are prevented from fulfilling their duty to protect this group because of a system beyond their control.

The government (June 2009) is removing the Refugee Council's funding to work with age-disputed young asylum seekers, which could leave hundreds of vulnerable child asylum seekers without access to education and treated like adults in the asylum system. Funding previously enabled the Refugee Council to support those who may have been wrongly assessed as adults by providing welfare solicitors, referring them for medical assessments and lobbying on their behalf. There is news and comment here and here.

The numbers of lone Muslim asylum seeking children needing foster care has risen over the last five years because of the numbers of Iraqi and Afghanistan children fleeing conflict in their countries and seeking asylum in the UK. A fostering agency (May 2009) points to the need for Muslim Asians to take on the role of foster carers.

Young people housed by local authorities are entitled to "more than a roof over their heads", the House of Lords has declared (May 2009). It rules that councils have a duty to assess the wider needs of 16 and 17-year-olds who are homeless or unaccompanied minors.

A new report published (19 May 2009) by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) presents for the first time the findings of an audit of decision-making in child asylum claims. It examines the quality of asylum decisions made by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in cases where children apply in their own right, and the impact of the asylum process on children. While acknowledging that some improvements have been made, it finds much to criticise.

Britain is facing a resurgence of slavery in the form of a growing human trafficking problem that is not being properly tackled by the authorities, the House of Commons home affairs select committee warns (May 2009). The Guardian and Children and Young People Now cover and comment on the findings.

Kent County Council and Croydon London Borough Council have won a High Court ruling (11 May 2009) that their own social workers were qualified to judge the ages of young asylum seekers. There are details of, and comments on the ruling, here and here.

The intelligence report from the UK Border Agency, obtained by The Guardian (6 May 2009), reveals how a 59-bed local authority block has been used as a clearing house for a trade in children that stretches across four continents.The UK Border Agency has responded (7 May 2009) to the article.

'Sanctuary' is a garden designed by Robert Hughes for the Royal Horticultural Society show in Cardiff (May 2009) that encourages visitors to reflect on how asylum seekers are treated in the UK.

Justice Keith ruled (6 May 2009) unlawful a Home Office decision that a young Chinese asylum seeker was over 18, which had led to his prosecution and imprisonment.

The Children's Commissioner has called on the government to stop detaining asylum-seeking children and to develop community-based alternatives, after publishing evidence that detention of children is not being used merely as a last resort. The report is entitled The arrest and detention of children subject to immigration control. The full report, executive summary and a visual presentation can be downloaded here.

The rate of recorded child trafficking in Britain has increased by almost 50% in two years, according to figures released (24 April 2009) by the Home Office's child exploitation and online protection centre (Ceop).

Foreign children who arrive unaccompanied in the UK should be assigned a personal guardian to stop them being lured or taken from care for exploitation as prostitutes, domestic servants and other illegal roles, the children, schools and families select committee of the House of Commons recommends (20 April 2009).

Some of the lone children arriving in Britain on the back of lorries are as young as ten. Zena Hawley reports (April 2009) on mothers taking desperate measures to help their children escape from being groomed as 'suicide bombers' in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.

Suspected victims of child trafficking from Asia, Africa and the Middle East are being smuggled through Britain's leading ports and airports at an accelerating rate, new figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal (April 2009).

New guidelines (3 April 2009) for assessing and recording cases of child trafficking have come into force. All suspected cases of human trafficking should be referred to designated "competent authorities" for assessment, Children and Young People Now reports.

January to March 2009

Boys aged 12 and even younger...

Two thirds of children under the care of Croydon Council...

Local authorities in England...

Trafficked children in Wales...

The Home Office...

RefugeeMap has been launched...

In a High Court test case...

Government guidelines on the treatment...

Unaccompanied refugee and migrant children...

Local authorities in England...

Children are physically and psychologically...