Minister to combat lone children issue

September 16, 2004 in Asylum and refugees, Looked after children

Immigration minister Des Browne has pledged to tackle the growing
number of unaccompanied children arriving in the UK to claim
asylum.

Browne said there were far too many unaccompanied children coming
into the UK.

He told a conference on the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 that
this was a form of child abuse and that for many children it would
be better to be returned to their families rather than being taken
into care.

The government is to encourage countries where many of the children
are from to establish reception facilities for them to return to
while their parents are located.