Asylum: Children

(asked on 20th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to commence covid-secure face-to-face substantive asylum interviews for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 23rd October 2020

The Home Office takes the wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously and has put in place a range of measures to support asylum seekers affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

Asylum Operations have been clear it would not restart substantive asylum interviews until it was safe to do so and recommenced with adult interview at the end of July 2020. On 21 September 2020 we recommenced remote video interviewing for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). Plans are in place to expand the number of UASC and minors’ interviews utilising remote video interviewing and, where it is established that a face to face interview is more appropriate, an in-person interview will also be available.

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