UK councils now required to take in child asylum seekers

UK councils now required to take in child asylum seekers

UK councils now required to take in child asylum seekers. Photo Credit: Voiceofvienna.org

Councils in the United Kingdom are now required to take in some of the unaccompanied child asylum seekers arriving in the country via the English Channel.

Councils in the United Kingdom are now required to take in some of the unaccompanied child asylum seekers arriving in the country via the English Channel in small boats.

According to immigration minister Kevin Foster, the decision wasn’t taken lightly but it is in the best interest of the children arriving.

Authorities will take children who are currently being looked after by councils on the south coast of England.

Due to shortages in UK children’s homes, over 100 child asylum seekers are living in hotels.

This change will see all 217 UK authorities that have social service departments obliged to care for and arrange the allocation of children.

The Home Office said it was taking “urgent steps” to allocate places in care for asylum-seeking children.

The Home Office has sent letters to councils across the country giving them 14 days to give reasons as to why they should not accept the children.

The letter says no more will be accepted if they are already caring for a number that makes up 0.07 per cent of the UK child population.

Councils will be paid £143 per child per night by the government under this new scheme.

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, November 22, Home Secretary Priti Patel said councils needed to “play their part” in offering accommodation to asylum seekers.

According to Nick Forbes, chairman of the Local Government Association’s asylum, refugee and migration taskforce, most councils in the UK have already offered places to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

However, the Labour politician told the BBC he was “very disappointed” that around 15 to 30 councils out of the 217 had not yet taken any in.

He said that some local authorities did not want to volunteer because of the “chaotic asylum system,” a national shortage of social workers and shortages in foster care placements.


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Written by

Laura Kemp

Originally from UK, Laura is based in Axarquia and is a writer for the Euro Weekly News covering news and features. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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