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Children Seeking Asylum
The Committee said the Government must:
94 Do more to make sure that asylum-seeking and migrant children are only ever locked up as a last resort, and for the shortest possible time.
Asylum seekers and their children can be locked up by the UK Government if it is decided that they do not have the right to stay here and they are waiting to go home.
95 Make sure that the UK Border Agency employs staff with special training to interview children.
The UK Border Agency is in charge of keeping the UK's borders secure and enforcing laws around immigration and customs. It considers applications to enter or stay in the UK.
96 Think about giving unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children guardians to look after their best interests.
97 Provide figures on the numbers of children seeking asylum in the UK, including those whose age is disputed.
An age dispute is where there is disagreement about whether a person is under or over 18 years of age.
98 Give the benefit of the doubt to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in age disputed cases. This means that they should be treated as children and given the same services and support as other asylum-seeking children.
99 Get guidance from experts on how to decide whether a person is under or over 18 years of age.
100 Make sure that, if refugee or asylum-seeking children are sent back to the country where they came from, checks are done to make sure the child will be safe. Research must be done on where the child will be living and what his or her life might be like.
101 Change the law to stop the prosecution of children who enter the UK without valid travel documents.
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