Within the UK’s population of refugees and people seeking asylum, there are about 6,000 children and young people who have been separated from their parents and close family, and known in official statistics as ‘unaccompanied minors’. More than half of them live in London or the South East, the rest are increasingly spread throughout the UK as a result of the government’s dispersal policy.

They are displaced not only from the culture, language, homeland and familiar circumstances in which they grew up but also from the love and concern of the people who have cared for them most.
Many also experienced the realities of war, civil unrest, bereavement, hunger and persecution, and the stresses of long and hazardous journeys.

Here now in the UK, they are beset by the uncertainties and anxieties connected with seeking asylum.
For all human beings, the growth from child to young adult can be a struggle. It’s particularly hard if you’re cut off from familiar surroundings, and from the people who took care of you.

Separated children and young people deserve support across their educational, legal, practical, emotional and social needs. Some of these are in part met by the local authorities or fostering arrangements, where they live, with supplementary support provided by charities, and other partners.