Asylum: Children

(asked on 13th January 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the British Red Cross, (2) the Refugee Council, (3) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and (4) any other relevant organisations, about how best to enhance the safety and wellbeing of (a) child refugees, and (b) asylum seekers; and whether any such discussions include consideration of the possible benefits of family reunion to such safety and wellbeing.


Answered by
Baroness Williams of Trafford Portrait
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This question was answered on 27th January 2020

The Home Office engage with a range of external organisations to discuss the support and care provided to unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children. This includes regular discussions with NGOs about a number of issues that affect unaccompanied children who are in the UK.

Our current refugee family reunion policy does not allow child refugees to sponsor their parents. The Government’s view is that if children could sponsor parents, it would risk creating incentives for more children to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family and risk hazardous journeys to the UK. This plays into the hands of criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people and goes against our safeguarding responsibilities.

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