Children coming to the UK voluntarily because they think they can get a better life

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1 UK Home Office and Department for Education and Skills 28 November 2003 Children coming to the UK voluntarily because they think they can get a better life In 2002, 6200 unaccompanied asylum seekers arrived in the United Kingdom. Of the 6990 initial asylum decisions made on unaccompanied asylum seekers in 2002, only 9% were recognised as refugees. 69% were granted limited leave to remain in the UK because of the current policy relating to unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). This indicates that the vast majority of unaccompanied minors arriving in the UK do not have any protection needs. We are working on a range of measures to tackle abuse of the asylum process in the UK. These include: A pilot project to develop and test an effective process for interviewing children in accordance with the change to the Immigration Rules, in The pilot was conducted over a three month period (October to December 2003) during which 120 children were interviewed. All the children included in the pilot were from the Non-Suspensive Appeal (NSA) listed countries and aged between 12 and 17. In assessing the effectiveness of the project we will be looking at the quality of the interviews conducted, their value as an aid to decision making and the impact of interviewing on our target to decide and serve 75% of new asylum applications within 2 months. The evaluation process is underway and is expected to continue until March If an unaccompanied child is refused asylum, under current UK policy the child will only be removed if appropriate reception and care arrangements exist in the country to which s/he is to be removed. If the asylum application and application for Humanitarian Protection (a form of subsidiary protection) are to be refused and reception arrangements cannot be established a child would normally be allowed to remain in the UK, outside the Immigration Rules, for 3 years or to age 18 or 12 months for the Non-Suspensive Appeal (NSA) listed Countries. [This means that we consider claims from the NSA listed countries as generally free from persecution and will, in the main, certify these as clearly unfounded. If an applicant s claim is certified as clearly unfounded his appeal against refusal of asylum will have to be made from outside the UK - i.e. the appeal is non-suspensive. Although adults from these countries are subject to the NSA process UASC currently are not, although they are granted shorter periods of leave]. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) of the Home Office (Interior Ministry) are currently developing an early returns programme for UASC under 18. The programme is still in the early stages of development. The returns programme would not operate at the expense of tracing family members. The primary aim will continue to be to return the child to his/her family. IND aim to establish a returns project that is safe and sustainable. The UK has developed an Age Assessment Protocol which sets out arrangements to support a co-operative approach to age assessment between Immigration Services and local authorities dealing with children from abroad who may be in need of care or support and whose age is in doubt for whatever reason. The Protocol aims to ensure consistency in 1

2 approach between the various agencies with statutory duties to assess asylum claims from or provide support services to unaccompanied asylum seeking children as well as to prevent abuse of the system by adults posing as minors. UK UASC statistics Please note that the following UASC applications and decisions data is for the first half of 2003, Quarter 1 and 2 (January June) and is rounded to the nearest five. APPLICATIONS In Quarter , 490 applications were received from unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). This is a 50% decrease in comparison to Quarter (985). During Quarter 2, UASC applications accounted for 5% of total applications excluding dependants. This is slightly less than previous quarters. The precise reason for this is unknown without further investigation, however this may reflect the fall in applications from countries from which most UASC applications originate (especially Iraq and Afghanistan) being greater than for applications as a whole. Of the 490 applications received from UASC in Quarter 2, port applications accounted for 15% (75) and in-country applications accounted for 85% (415). This is a slight increase in the proportion of in country applications from 79% in Quarter 1. Applications increased slightly in June 2003 compared to May; however this was in line with total applications with UASC making up 5% of total applications similar to previous months. During Quarter 2, Male applicants accounted for 64% (315) of applications. Female applicants accounted for 36% (175) of applications in the same period. This is an increase in the proportion of UASC applicants that are female from 29% in Quarter Under 16s accounted for 39% (190) of applications, UASC aged 16 and 17 made up 60% (295) of applications in Quarter 2. This is a slight increase in the proportion of UASC applicants that are under 16, up from 34% in Quarter Afghanistan was the highest applicant nationality in Quarter and accounted for 9% of UASC applications during the period. INITIAL DECISIONS In Quarter 2, 655 initial decisions were made regarding UASC; a 61% fall from Quarter 1. Of the 655 initial decisions, 3% were granted asylum, which compares with 5% in Quarter 1. Grants of Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) accounted for 74% during Quarter 1. In Quarter , 27% of UASC were refused asylum, 1% were refused asylum and granted Humanitarian Protection, 68% were refused asylum and granted Discretionary Leave. (Humanitarian Protection and Discretionary Leave are both forms of subsidiary protection). 2

3 Child Trafficking General The nature of trafficking means that it is a hidden crime and there are no reliable figures about children being trafficked into or out of the UK. There have been a few high profile instances of children being trafficked into and through the UK, but there is insufficient information to determine whether this is a growing problem. However, the very nature of the crime demands that is treated very seriously, which is why the UK Government has introduced criminal sanctions covering traffickers and has charged a specific group, the multi-agency law enforcement taskforce Reflex, with co-ordinating intelligence on the problem. Through this group we are increasing capacity to tackle organised trafficking. A recent specific police operation discovered foreign minors working as prostitutes in London. Recently published guidance on trafficking aims to raise awareness of trafficking of children and adults. Legislation New proposed legislation sets out wide-ranging offences covering trafficking for sexual exploitation to replace the present offence of trafficking for the purpose of prostitution introduced in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act. The offence of trafficking for sexual exploitation carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. In addition to this, new legislation also introduces the offence of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of a child, which will protect children up to 18. It covers a range of offences, including buying the sexual services of a child, (for which the penalty ranges from 7 years to life imprisonment depending on the age of the child); and causing, facilitating or controlling the commercial sexual exploitation of a child in prostitution or pornography, for which the maximum penalty will be 14 years imprisonment. Legislation on offences and penalties for trafficking for labour exploitation is currently before parliament. Scale of problem Estimates of the scale of trafficking are much more elusive however. A Home Office (Interior Ministry) Research study, Stopping Traffic, published in 2000, estimated that anywhere between 140 and 1,400 women were trafficked to the UK every year for the purposes of sexual exploitation, but that this was a very rough estimate. (Based on 72 actual cases and calculated using a series of assumptions). It is now widely accepted that some children are brought into the UK for exploitation, either sexual, domestic or to facilitate benefit fraud. However, existing research on the vice trade shows the vast majority of women in vice markets are adults. Reasons for this include: (i) The greater visibility of children means that they are less likely to work in on-street prostitution; (ii) Prostituting children is seen as a riskier undertaking; and (iii) The legal penalties for pimps and clients would be far greater. 3

4 Although there have been a small number of cases coming to light involving minors (under- 18s), initial intelligence assessments do not suggest the existence of a UK market for underage prostitutes and children, as the majority of these minors have been over 16 years of age. Evidence also suggests that the UK is a transit country for underage prostitutes, with West African girls passing through the UK en route to Italy. There is anecdotal evidence of children being trafficked either to work as domestic help, or in order for the adult carer to claim extra social security benefits. This can occur under private fostering arrangements, which may not be notified to local government. There is at present insufficient intelligence available on the trafficking of children. Most knowledge is based on anecdotal evidence or sporadic instances involving individual children. Apart from one investigation, there is little evidence to indicate whether these forms of child abuse can be seen as a form of organised immigration crime or are the result of unscrupulous and unsuitable individuals entering into private fostering arrangements. Identification and care of trafficked children Under the Children Act 1989, unaccompanied minors are the responsibility of local authority social service provision. Similarly, where children are accompanied but it is assessed that the carers are unsuitable, a child is referred to the care of social services, who have a duty to provide appropriate care. Authorities at certain key points of arrival have established protocols outlining the procedures for effective inter-agency co-operation. Joint work is underway between key agencies at principal entry points to identify children at risk. A Child Protection Pilot Project was launched on 10 March 2003 at London s Heathrow airport; this is a joint operation between the Metropolitan Police and the Immigration Service involving one dedicated police child protection officer working closely with Immigration Officers. Kent Police have seconded a child protection trained officer to the Joint Debriefing Unit at Dover Port in response to the large numbers of minors arriving in the UK. In addition to this, a dedicated social services intake team has been piloted at Dover Port as a joint initiative between Immigration Service and Kent County Council Social Services. The greater presence and availability of social workers reinforces the consideration given to child protection issues as well as ensuring that children s welfare needs are met promptly. It is planned that similar teams will be placed in other UK ports or screening units that deal with significant numbers of unaccompanied children who seek asylum in the UK, e.g. Croydon and Solihull Asylum Screening Units. Both pilot projects are being carefully monitored and evaluated and the lessons included in specialist training for Immigration Officers. International co-operation The UK contributed to the EU STOP Programme, which provides support to Member State organisations responsible for action against the trade in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children. The UK is contributing to the new EU five year funding programme AGIS, which will fund projects in the field of police and judicial co-operation, 4

5 focusing on combating organised crime, and encouraging co-operation between law enforcement agencies and judicial bodies. AGIS replaces the five existing funding programmes in this field (Oisin II, Hippocrates, Grotius II, Falcone and Stop II), and will make available a total of 65 million over five years. The key aims of the funding programme are to promote police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters and to encourage and support the development of European policy in this area. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Foreign Ministry) is funding prevention projects to educate potential victims of the dangers of trafficking, particularly for women and children, in source countries. They will also assist with repatriation and reintegration of victims of human trafficking in an attempt to prevent them becoming repeat victims of trafficking. The International Development Ministry also supports a project by the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) aimed at combating the trafficking of children in certain sub-regions. 5