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A recent report by the National Audit Office reveals that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children do not receive the same standard of care from social services departments that is offered to indigenous children in need, even though their legal rights are identical. Many do not receive a full needs assessment or care plan.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are routinely supported in temporary housing under section 17 of the Children Act 1989. Many of the organisations with which the Family Rights Group works say that these children are regularly placed in B&Bs and seldom see a social worker or receive support. In one case, an unaccompanied asylum seeker of 15 had been referred to social services for help. He was traumatised, lonely and suffering from severe depression. The authority placed him in a run down B&B several miles outside of the borough. He was not found a school place or a GP and the child had not been visited by anyone for more than two months.


Research confirms that asylum-seeking children are often placed in accommodation that is largely unsupervised, such as hostels or shared houses with adults who have not been assessed for their suitability to live with minors. It is unlikely that many of these placements are monitored closely enough to ensure the placement is suitable or safe.

Such practice is not only discriminatory but would also appear unlawful. Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on councils to accommodate a "child in need" who has no adult providing for them. Therefore, the law would appear to dictate that all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are entitled to be accommodated under section 20. Budgetary concerns cannot be used to defeat the central purpose of the act.

Increasingly, social services departments defend their actions on the basis that many asylum seekers claim to be children in order to receive services under the Children Act 1989.


No evidence has been shown to support this view. However, government research into why asylum seekers come to the UK confirms what many of those working with asylum seekers have always known - they are here not to claim benefits but to escape persecution. One spoke of his amazement that in the UK people could speak out against the government: "You can go to Hyde Park and you can shout. I can't believe that."

Social services departments continue to buy into the tabloid press image of the asylum seeker. It is unclear how this two-tier system of child protection will be explained away when a young asylum seeker is seriously injured or dies. It would appear that while we may be in Hyde Park shouting, no one is listening.

Pamela Fitzpatrick is policy adviser at the Family Rights Group, a charity that provides advice and support for families whose children are involved with social services.