Migrant children

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, child trafficking, safeguarding, welfare, detention, and more.

Views expressed in the documents below are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of North West RSMP.

From segregation to inclusion: Roma pupils in the United Kingdom

Equality / Roma Education Fund, 2011

In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and some other new EU Member States, Roma children are disproportionately placed in special needs schools or in de facto segregated schools. When these same children migrate to the UK with their parents, they are educated in mainstream schools. Equality, in co-operation with the Roma Education Fund, carried out research to find out what impact mainstream schooling had on Roma children who had previously been streamed into special needs or de facto segregated schools. The findings of this research show that Roma pupils in the UK quickly catch up with their non- Roma peers to gain an attainment level just below average. The research also found that the more the Roma pupils were integrated within classes and schools, the fewer community cohesion problems existed both in and out of school.

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Families new to the UK: Confident families in cohesive communities

4 Children, 2011

This document examines how families, new to the UK, cope with family life in Britain. The report follows on from work that 4Children have carried out with new families, in which a number of challenges were identified. The report makes a series of recommendations to ensure families have a positive experience in the UK and to make sure their children get the best start in life.

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Safeguarding trafficked children guidance and toolkit

London Safeguarding Children Board, 2011

This guidance and toolkit are designed to help agencies identify and support children who have been trafficked. They are aimed at social workers, teachers, police, health workers and other professionals who may come into contact with suspected victims of trafficking.

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EU directive on human trafficking: Why the UK government should opt in

CARE, 2011

This report addresses where current UK legislation could be improved to strengthen provisions on human trafficking, according to those set out in the EU Trafficking Directive. A section of this report deals specifically with child trafficking. It argues that far too many children go missing and that adopting the Directive may assist in tackling this issue. It also highlights a new requirement that in cases where a child has no-one with parental responsibility advocating for them, a guardian should be appointed. At present in the UK a guardian is not appointed in such cases.

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Something to smile about: Promoting and supporting the educational and recreational needs of refugee children

S Walker, Refugee Council, 2011

The Supporting and Mentoring in Learning and Education (SMILE) project was a three-year project set up by the Refugee Council in 2008. This report presents the findings of three years of action research that was conducted as part of the project. The research investigated the educational and social contributions volunteers make in the lives of refugee and asylum seeking young people and the impact of awareness raising activities. The report presents data collected through a variety of methods, including in-depth interviews with young people and their mentors and befrienders, and discusses the impact of involvement in the SMILE project on both refugee children and volunteers. It finds that SMILE was a successful project, making a significant positive impact on young people. However, it also finds that refugee and asylum seeking young people are still facing considerable barriers to accessing education in the UK.

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Lives in the balance: The quality of immigration legal advice given to separated children seeking asylum

L Brownlees and T Smith, Refugee Council, 2011

This is a report of research conducted at the Refugee Council in 2010, looking specifically at the quality of immigration legal advice provided to separated children in the asylum system. The research was conducted through interviews with the Refugee Council's specialist Children's Advisers and some of the children with whom they work. The research found that although there were examples of excellent work there were too many examples of poor practice, resulting in many children not getting the best possible help in the asylum application process. The authors make a number of recommendations, including the provision of training for legal representatives who want to work with children.

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Landing in Kent: The experience of unaccompanied children arriving in the UK

A Matthews, Office of the Children's Commissioner, 2011

This report praises Local Authority provision at the Millbank Reception and Assessment Centre, examining the experiences of the children at the centre and their journeys to the UK.

Recommendations made in the report include the following:

  • The Government should review the UK's actions on an EU-wide policy of returning children to the country in which they were first fingerprinted, rather than dealing with their asylum claim here.
  • UKBA should ensure children are never interviewed about matters other than basic personal details without an appropriate adult being present.
  • The Government should reconsider plans to send 16 and 17 year old Afghans back to Kabul, unless it is safe and in their best interests.

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Developing indicators for the protection, respect and promotion of the rights of the child in the European Union

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2010

This report comes in response to the European Commission's request that the EU Fundamental Rights Agency develop indicators to measure how child rights are implemented, protected, respected and promoted across the EU. It proposes a series of indicators under the following key areas: family environment and alternative care; protection from exploitation and violence; education, citizenship and cultural activities, and adequate standard of living. The indicators are not intended to monitor compliance with international standards, but to guide the Agency's data collection and research.

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Being children and undocumented in the UK: A background paper

N Sigona and V Hughes, COMPAS, 2010

This document is the first working paper for a collaborative research project into the lives and experiences of undocumented migrant children in the United Kingdom and the US. The research looks at two groups of children, those who accompany or live with close family members, and those who migrate alone. The policy areas that this project focuses on are: health, education and employment. This paper provides a context to this area of migration on which to base the research.

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Child trafficking in the UK: A snapshot

ECPAT UK, 2010

This report provides a "snapshot" of what has and is going on as regards child trafficking in the UK and, importantly, what further work is needed. The report raises particular concern over the limited number of police investigations and prosecutions for trafficking cases involving children, and calls for a comprehensive plan of action to safeguard child victims of trafficking covering protection, prosecution and prevention. One of the main recommendations of the report includes establishing a system of guardianship for child trafficking victims, to care for and support them and take decisions based on their best interests.

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