CHILD asylum-seekers are living in grim conditions, often with inadequate food and unsafe accommodation, and in fear of sexual exploitation, suggests a new Children’s Society report published this week.
Launched at the General Synod on Tuesday, Living on the Edge of Despair is a report on child destitution showing the conditions for possibly thousands of child asylum-seekers in the UK.
In families seeking asylum, the mother is often forced to resort to prostitution. Pregnant women are often unable to afford food, says the report.
The Children’s Society interviewed 13 destitute families and collected eight case-studies, in addition to interviewing professionals who work with asylum-seekers.
The report concluded that the main cause of destitution was lack of legal representation. Legal aid for asylum-seekers is severely restricted, and does not allow time to deal with the UK’s complex immigration system. The professionals interviewed believed that lack of legal representation was directly responsible for the failure of asylum claims.
“This can leave genuine asylum-seekers and their families destitute, unable to work or claim benefits. Some of the parents within the study had experienced rape and torture before arriving in the UK. Many were depressed and felt powerless because they could not care for their children,” stated the report.
Lisa Nandy, the policy advisor for the Children’s Society, said: “This may be a small-scale study, but the results are shocking — we found children eating only once a day, and parents not eating for several days. If the findings reflect the wider experience of asylum-seeking families in the UK, then thousands of children are experiencing destitution.”
The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester and chairman of the Children’s Society, said that the report was a shocking indictment of the way some of the country’s most vulnerable children were treated.
“The Church has witnessed first-hand the terrible levels of destitution facing many asylum-seeking families who come to Britian to escape persecution and torture. Refugee and asylum-seeking children are [children] first and foremost and should be treated as such.”
The National Audit Office estimates that there are at least 283,500 refused asylum-seekers in the UK. They are not entitled to benefits or work, so many are destitute. Families claiming asylum are entitled to support but are not allowed to work.
Families recognised as refugees are allowed to work and claim benefits. When granted asylum, they have 28 days in which to leave their accommodation and find somewhere else to live.
www.childrenssociety.org.uk/research
|
back to News
previous story
|
next story 
back to top.gif "New, nearly new, and used cars for church and charity © site")
