10. Memorandum from Refugee Children's
The Refugee Children's Consortium is urging the Government
to carefully consider the potential impact of the measures contained
in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill on refugee children
of all ages. Refugee children are children first and foremost
and should be afforded the same rights as any other child in the
UK. Refugee children also have specific needs that require particular
In particular, the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides a critical standard against
which the UK can be assessed in respect of its treatment of refugee
children. The Government should, therefore, use the provisions
of the UNCRC as its guiding principles on all matters relating
to refugee children.
It is important to recognise that for children, integration
cannot wait until a final positive decision has been made on their
asylum claim. What may be a relatively short period of time for
an adult can seem like a lifetime for a child and represent a
significant part of their childhood and development. The Government
must, therefore, consider how any policies affecting children's
lives may contribute to or militate against the realisation of
its integration strategy. Proposals to provide services and to
educate refugee children separately will have a long-term detrimental
effect on their development and successful integration into society.
The Refugee Children's Consortium is opposed to the
inclusion of children and their families in accommodation centres,
as proposed (see in particular, Sections 15, 25, 26, 30, 31 and
33), on the following grounds
has failed to demonstrate that placing children and young people
in accommodation centres is in the best interests of those children
(Articles 3 and 6 of the UNCRC).
The placement of children and their families
in accommodation centres will remove opportunities for them to
participate in social, leisure, recreational and cultural activities
available to other children in the UK (Article 31 of the UNCRC).
It is unclear what child welfare frameworks
and inspection regimes will apply to accommodation centresfor
instance, how will the provisions of the Children Act 1989, the
Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the Care Standards Act 2000 and
the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 apply? We are particularly
concerned about child protection issues and the possibility of
less rigorous procedures and practices in accommodation centres.
Some of the proposed locations for the
accommodation centres are in isolated areas, where it will be
difficult for families to make cultural links and participate
in normal community life (Article 15 of the UNCRC).
The creation of accommodation centres
will create physical and social barriers between asylum seeking
and other families, which could lead to a deterioration in community
The communal experience of accommodation
centres potentially militates against the rights of children to
privacy and a family life (Articles 16 and 18 of the UNCRC).
Families will be denied a say in the
location and type of accommodation that would best meet their
needs and the best interests of their children (Articles 5 and
18 of the UNCRC).
Children will be denied a voice in major
decisions that affect them (Article 12 of the UNCRC).
Finally, this is the third major reform of the support
system in six years and as a result there will be three different
systems running concurrently by the end of 2002 with inherent
inequality of treatment. We cannot continue to experiment with
Children and their families should not be placed
in accommodation centres, as proposed in this Bill
Access to Mainstream Education
We are dismayed by the inclusion of Sections 30,
31 and 33 in the Bill, which remove refugee children in accommodation
centres from the application of key sections of the Education
Act 1996 and of Scottish education law. We believe that developing
segregated education provision is both regressive and discriminatory,
and could contravene the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000,
as well as the UNCRC (Article 28 refers to the right of the child
to education on the basis of equal opportunity).
Furthermore, mainstream nursery or school is the
ideal starting point to enable refugee children to rebuild their
lives whilst enhancing the genuine inclusion of all children
and their families in the local community and mainstream society.
The structure and routine of a regular school day can help to
provide a sense of normality and security in a child's life, vital
to promoting their emotional, physical, educational and social
development and well-being. There is some evidence from other
European countries, where children are educated outside of the
mainstream, that their educational progress is adversely affected.
We have specific concerns in relation to children
with special educational needs. It is unclear whether or not the
local education authority will retain the duty to draw up a statement
of SEN for children in accommodation centres and whether or not
the new SEN Code of Practice will apply. It also unclear what
types of 'special cases' will be covered by Section 31.
In January this year, in response to a parliamentary
question, Government education minister Baroness Ashton said:
'Children of asylum seekers and refugees have
the same right as any other child to access the education system
in the United Kingdom.'
The fact that this policy has now been reversed is
a worrying development, and demonstrates that the Government is
treating refugee children as asylum seekers first and children
second. It is also disappointing that the Government has made
no attempt to consult on this far-reaching decision.
Children should be educated within mainstream nurseries
and schools. The implementation of a two-tier discriminatory system
of education in the UK is completely unacceptable.
A child's first experiences on arrival in the UK
are essential in bridging the gap between their past experiences
and the start of a new phase of their life in the UK. These first
experiences may have a lasting impact on the child's long-term
welfare and positive integration into school, community and wider
society. It is essential, therefore, that induction processes
A full assessment of need, taking into account family
circumstances and the need for specialist services, should take
place at the induction stage. This is vital to inform decisions
about dispersal and to help ensure that dispersal arrangements
Children and their families should be supported in
smaller child-friendly induction centres. This would mean having
trained staff who are able to provide a supportive environment
Children should be able to access play and learning
facilities within the centres so that their physical, emotional,
educational and social needs and rights are met.
There should be appropriate opportunities for children
to express their wishes, views, feelings and experiences and to
participate in all matters that affect them, including the asylum
We support this Government's broader agenda of tackling
poverty and promoting social inclusion and cohesionand
we believe that those who oppose the social exclusion of children
must also oppose the social exclusion of refugee children.
The Refugee Children's Consortium welcomes the Government's
decision to replace the voucher scheme with a cash-based system.
However, calls for the abolition of vouchers were based partly
on concerns about the stigmatisation and discrimination that they
engendered and partly on concerns about the level at which they
were set. We are very concerned, therefore, that support levels
will continue to be inadequate to meet the basic needs of destitute
asylum seekersand that this Bill does nothing to redress
Support for an asylum-seeking couple with two
children under 16 (from April 2002)
Support rates for asylum seekers
% of Income Support
In-kind support *
* Home Office estimate, May 2001
We believe that ensuring equal entitlement to benefits
would send a clear message that the Government's commitment to
ending child poverty in twenty years applies to all children in
the UK regardless of their immigration status.
We oppose the Bill's provision to allow the Secretary
of State to remove entitlement to cash-only support. This would
cause severe hardship not only for many asylum seekers but also
for the friends or family members with whom they stay. Removing
the option of receiving cash-only support would increase the number
of destitute asylum seekers or increase the number of asylum seekers
claiming for both support and accommodation.
The rates of support for asylum seeking families
should be increased to full Income Support levels and include
passported benefits such as milk tokens and free vitamins.
Children and their families should have the option
to live with family or friends without forfeiting their entitlement
to subsistence benefits.
Under no circumstances should families be left without
any means of supporting their children. Nor should children be
made to suffer as a result of the choices of their parents or
their failure to comply with conditions for support.
Unaccompanied Refugee Children
The Refugee Children's Consortium believes that all
unaccompanied refugee children should receive the level of care
and protection to which they are entitled. Under the Children
Act and Children (Scotland) Act services should be provided to
unaccompanied children on the basis of a full assessment of their
needs. It is therefore unjustified that in a system based on need,
the grant available to local authorities for the support of unaccompanied
children is determined by the age of the child. Furthermore, the
fact that the grant is paid retrospectively inhibits the ability
of local authorities to plan the effective delivery of services,
to the detriment of the children for whom they are responsible.
The grant paid for the support of unaccompanied children
(Section 36) should be paid in advance, should not distinguish
between under and over 16 year olds and should meet in full the
reasonable costs of their support
The Refugee Children's Consortium is very concerned
by the Bill's provisions relating to detention and removal. We
remain opposed to the detention of any child, on the grounds that
it is incompatible with the principles of the UNCRC and other
human rights instruments. We draw particular attention to the
interference with the child's rights to freedom, to a normal social
life, and to education, as well as to the duty on States to ensure
the development of the child to the maximum possible extent. (See
also the earlier reasons for objecting to the placement of children
in accommodation centres.)
Section 48 of the Bill removes the (never implemented)
right to automatic bail hearings for detainees created in the
Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. This means there will be no legal
safeguards to prevent refugee children and their families from
being held in detention at the discretion of immigration officials
and for longer periods without just cause.
Children and their families should not be
detained in removal or detention centres