ouncils will obtain more money to incentivise them to maneuver a whole lot of lone migrant youngsters out of motels and into their care sooner, the Authorities has stated.
Native authorities that transfer unaccompanied asylum-seeking youngsters (UASC) from motels to their care inside 5 working days – as a substitute of the earlier 10-day deadline – will obtain an additional £6,000 per little one over three months, the Dwelling Workplace stated.
However the Refugee Council stated there urgently must be a long-term answer, reasonably than “sticking plaster options”.
The additional funding can be on prime of the £143 a day councils obtain to assist every UASC, and the £270 per week to assist former UASC care leavers of their native space.
The announcement comes after it was revealed that 45 unaccompanied little one asylum seekers went lacking from motels inside 10 months.
Knowledge obtained Each Youngster Protected In opposition to Trafficking (Ecpat) charity confirmed that 45 youngsters disappeared between June final yr and the tip of March.
As of the tip of June, 355 unaccompanied little one asylum seekers between the ages of 11 and 18 had been being saved in motels, the Impartial reported.
An open letter, written by Ecpat and Youngsters England and signed by teams together with the Refugee Council and Asylum Assist, warned that the youngsters had been at nice danger of trafficking and exploitation.
The federal government scheme, beforehand voluntary, was made briefly necessary late final yr to make sure that councils across the nation share the accountability for taking care of unaccompanied youngsters.
This contains those that arrive on England’s south coast after crossing the Channel.
The federal government revealed it’s costing greater than £5 million a day to accommodate asylum seekers and Afghan refugees in motels, together with unaccompanied youngsters.
The Dwelling Workplace stated the Authorities is working to finish the usage of motels for asylum seekers and “repair the damaged asylum system”.
Councils may even be required to take sufficient UASC to make up no less than 0.1 per cent of the entire variety of youngsters of their native space.
Beforehand, they’d been required to take a minimal of 0.07 per cent.
It should imply youngsters are “pretty distributed” between councils, the Dwelling Workplace stated.
It didn’t present a deadline for when native authorities might want to meet this threshold, however stated they’d not have to take action “instantly”.
Kevin Foster, minister for protected and authorized migration, stated: “The Authorities can’t cope with the impression of the rise in harmful and unlawful small boat crossings alone which is why I welcome the assist from councils to assist us scale back the price of motels and shortly transfer unaccompanied asylum-seeking youngsters so that they obtain the care they want.
Enver Solomon, chief govt of the Refugee Council, stated it’s an “unacceptable, severe failure” that traumatised younger asylum seekers are accommodated in motels.
He stated: “The agonising uncertainty of stays in unsuitable non permanent lodge lodging may be very damaging for kids who’ve fled battle and violence and are in determined want of assist and stability.
“We welcome any efforts to deal with this problem and the popularity of the inadequacy of the scenario however there urgently have to be long-term approaches reasonably than sticking plaster options.”
Ecpat has been approached for remark.
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