La Strada Documentation Center

Safe at Last? Children on the front line of UK Border Control

Document number
2363
Date
2010
Title
Safe at Last? Children on the front line of UK Border Control
Author/publisher
Refugee And Migrant Justice
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Child Trafficking, Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, Best Interests Principle, Child Victims of Trafficking, Separated Migrant Children, Unaccompanied minors, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Child protection systems, Family reunification, Guardian, Family Tracing, Age Assessment, Freedom from Detention, Interim Care, Integration, Adoption,
Summary
Every week at British ports, vulnerable children are found crammed in the boots of cars, hidden in lorries and found hanging underneath trucks. Many have travelled for months, alone, under the control of abusive smugglers. They arrive exhausted, traumatised, hungry and often sick or injured. Many have not slept or eaten properly for days. When they arrive, the children believe they are safe at last. Their treatment by the UK Border Agency undermines that belief. This report reveals the experiences of children in their own words. Upon arrival in the UK they have been arrested, detained for up to 24 hours, denied vital medical attention and sometimes food before being subjected to an arduous interview about their immigration status by the UK Border Agency. These interviews, often described by UK Border Agency staff as Illegal Entrant Interviews, take place without a legal representative or independent adult present. Information obtained from the child is frequently used against their claim for international protection.
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