In this issue we hear from the Youth Casework team at South London Refugee Association. The team undertakes advocacy type work with and on behalf of children in care and care leavers as part of their wider casework and support for children and young people under the age of 25 who are seeking asylum or … Read more
This judgment concerns three claims for judicial review: (1) Claim by ECPAT UK (Every Child Protected Against Trafficking) against Kent County Council and the Home Secretary; (2) claim by Kent County Council against the Home Secretary (with Brighton & Hove City Council joining as an interested party); and (3) claim by Brighton & Hove City … Read more
A senior family court judge, Mrs Justice Lieven, has today (9 June) ruled that unaccompanied children housed in Home Office-run hotels are likely to be children in need and are therefore entitled to the full protection of the Children Act 1989 (judgment here). Rejecting the proposition that there is a lacuna in protection, Mrs Justice … Read more
A debate is to be held in Parliament today (7 June) on the Home Office’s accommodation of unaccompanied children in hotels, led by Scottish National Party MP Deirdre Brock. With the agreement of the Department for Education, the Home Office began housing unaccompanied children in hotels in July 2021. The Children Act 1989 unequivocally places … Read more
Article 39 was in the High Court (Family Division) last Friday (24 March) seeking the court’s protection for unaccompanied children who have gone missing from a hotel run by the Home Office in Brighton and Hove. Through these proceedings, we are asking the family court to consider making individual children a ward of court, a … Read more