TAKING THE RIGHTS STEPS Children s Rights: Wales and the World. Separated Children Seeking Sanctuary in Wales Swansea University, 11/12 th June 2012

Transcription

1 TAKING THE RIGHTS STEPS Children s Rights: Wales and the World Separated Children Seeking Sanctuary in Wales Swansea University, 11/12 th June 2012

2 Welcome Mona Bayoumi Public Law Project Daisy Cole Head of Influencing, PR & Child Policy

3 Separated Children and advocacy Aims To gain an understanding of: asylum and immigration terms, the asylum process and implications of decisions, the situation of multiple jeopardy role of an independent advocate and legal advisor.

4 The Welsh Refugee Council Direct information, advice & support to individual asylum seekers and refugees A range of specialist services to Refugee and Asylum communities, service providers and local communities, eg, Child Protection, Advocacy, and Play Development. Refugee Well Housing Project Policy, Communications and Campaigning to raise awareness and understanding of refugee issues and proactively promote the rights of refugees and asylum seekers

5 Our aims We are guided by the core principle that the right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right as stated in the 1951 Refugee Convention and it is our humanitarian duty to actively participate in saving the lives of people who, by force have to flee their homeland in search of their basic human rights. Last year, we gave 36,390 advice sessions to refugees, asylum seekers & failed asylum seekers

6 What is an asylum seeker? Someone who has formally applied for asylum and therefore wants to be recognised as a refugee, but whose application has not yet been decided.

7 What is a refugee? International law: an individual who has fled because of a fear of persecution, and is unable to be protected by their own government UK law: an individual who has applied for asylum and been granted Refugee Status under the UN Refugee Convention, it is generally issued for 5 years, but UKBA can revise & revisit Humanitarian Protection (HP) - people who do not meet the refugee definition, but who on return either face a serious risk to their life, the death penalty, the risk of being killed unlawfully or of being subjected to torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment

8 United Nations Refugee Convention 1951 The convention was approved at a special United Nations Conference on 28 th July Limited to protecting European refugees after World War II The 1967 protocol removed the geographical and time limits, expanding the Convention's scope.

9 1967 Protocol Relating to the status of Refugees A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it..

10 What is a Migrant Worker? The term Migrant Worker refers to a person who is to be engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national. This does not include refugees or asylum seekers.

11 Who are you? Asylum screening unit The asylum screening unit is a centre run by the UK Border Agency where a person is registered as an asylum applicant and begins the process of applying for asylum Establish identity and nationality Fingerprints, Photo s and documents

12 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child is a child who is: applying for asylum in their own right; and is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who by law has responsibility to do so. A child may move between the accompanied and unaccompanied categories whilst their application is under consideration. Eg, where a child arrives alone, but is later united with family members in the UK, or a child arrives with their parents or close relatives but is later abandoned or a trafficked child or one brought in on false papers. UKBA

13 Where do they come from and why? Afghanistan, China, Congo, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Iran Multitude of reasons, including: Child Soldier War/ Armed conflict Natural disaster Poverty Destruction of home To escape from violent and dysfunctional families

14 Routes into the UK Children arrive in the UK by several routes Smuggled/ Trafficked in a lorry and found in country Private Fostering Child Brides on false papers Illegal adoption

15 Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults New arrivals and the asylum process can facilitate groups vulnerabilities to abuse Issues relating to child safeguarding and vulnerable adults can be misidentified at port and later by Local Authorities as cultural practice or considered irrelevant to core business FGM, Forced Marriage, Domestic Abuse Victims of Torture and Trafficking.

16 The Asylum Process

17 Decisions How many unaccompanied asylum seeking children are allowed to stay? In 2010, the UK Government received 1,717 applications for asylum from separated children Refugee Status 264 Humanitarian Protection 11 Discretionary Leave 1,102 The rest were refused, reunited with family or removed to a 3 rd country. 489 children were age disputed

18 Enrol at Trafficking college or / Learn forced labour Direct courses War, conflict Witness of atrocities rape, destruction Authorities construction of Childhood - Age Blindness Legal Representation 3 rd country removals Uncertain Future Reasons for seeking asylum Complex Asylum Process Age assessment & support on turning 18 Persecution of family Torture Political activities Confusion over case law, LA responsibility & entitlements Isolation in Wales Multiple Jeopardy Physical & Mental Health Cultural dislocation separation from friends/ family Language / interpretation Loss of Identity disbelief Unresolved trauma, PTSD Not knowing about the situation at home, or expected behaviours in Wales Living with unknown adults Inappropriate Accommodation or Care Over emphasis of maturity or credibility Lack of inclusive opportunities, education, leisure, work No previous health care or record of injuries, infections. No knowledge of Western health

19 Numbers of Separated Children living in Wales Due to the diverse routes of transit into Wales, there is no exact figure of the number of separated children and young people living in Wales. The Children in Need Census (2010) stated that there were 125 unaccompanied asylum seeking children living in Wales While the majority of these are located in the dispersal areas separated children are known to be resident in Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Monmouthshire. Their specific vulnerabilities to trafficking and exploitation mean that could be discovered in any LA in Wales.

20 Wales: Devolution and Immigration Asylum and Immigration are non devolved issues Asylum seekers and refugees living in Wales are devolved Progress to-date: The Refugee Inclusion Strategy, 2008 Meeting the healthcare needs of Asylum Seekers, 2005 NPHS Wales guidance on healthcare for asylum seekers (2009) The extreme situation facing UASC was cited in the One Wales agreement with a commitment to address these in the Action Plan for Refugee Inclusion

21 Child Policy in Wales UNCRC and young asylum seekers rights to protection, provision, and participation a situation of multiple jeopardy has been acknowledged in Welsh Government s Refugee Inclusion Strategy, Action Plan which has prioritised the circumstances of the separated child: UASC Protocol, Child Trafficking Protocol more work needed on age assessment and advocacy While children living with families subject to the asylum process will often remain at unidentified child safeguarding risk

22 Age Assessment Sometimes Children s Services will be asked whether a child is in fact a child or the age they state. There is no hard scientific process for conducting an age assessment However, UKBA policy states that where there is any element of doubt that the child should be accepted as their stated age

23 Child Safeguarding Welsh Refugee Council s Young lives in Limbo: the protection of agedisputed young people in Wales. ouncil.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/11/ WRC-Young-Lives-in- Limbo-Full-Report.pdf Refugee Council s Not a minor offence: unaccompanied children locked up as part of the asylum system 12/ Notaminorof fence

24 Key recommendations Frontloading of advice service < potential to identify & build relationships with suspected victims of trafficking and young asylum seekers Ethical use of interpreters Realistic legal advice service Advocacy / guardianship for separated children and victims of trafficking in line with EU directive 2011/36 and EU Unaccompanied Minors Action Plan Inspection of LA services to young asylum seekers particularly age assessment Age assessment toolkit for Wales

25 Thank you We hope you hope you have found our session useful and informative. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can offer any further assistance or support. Mona Bayoumi Daisy Cole