Levelling the playing field

This report is based on research commissioned by UNICEF UK and undertaken in three local authority areas in England involving professionals dealing with unaccompanied or separated migrant children, as well as interviews with the children themselves. The research was designed to investigate whether the services provided to unaccompanied or separated migrant children met their complex needs and also complied with domestic and international standards for the treatment of children. The three areas were chosen to reflect their different geographical and structural characteristics, as well as the interest they had expressed in taking part in the research: * Kent County Council has historically been host to a large number of unaccompanied or separated migrant children, most of whom entered the country through the port at Dover. It has a large and predominantly white population and is a mainly rural county. * The London Borough of Harrow is an outer London borough with one of the most diverse populations in England in terms of ethnic, cultural and religious communities. * Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is located in the West Midlands. The number of unaccompanied or separated migrant children greatly increased when an Asylum Screening Unit was located in Solihull in 2002. It has a largely white population and there is one British National Party (BNP) councillor on the council. The research revealed a variety of good, but different, practices in each of the three local authority areas in response to the needs of unaccompanied or separated migrant children in their areas. The report did not seek to compare the responses made by each of the local authorities. However, it did assess them against established international standards for the treatment of unaccompanied or separated migrant children. The research also identified areas where improvements were clearly needed to ensure that this particularly vulnerable group were given the protection and support which they required. The report’s findings mirror some previous findings from similar research studies. However, the geographical range of the research was more diverse than other studies, and the findings raised some new issues.These included the fact that unaccompanied or separated migrant children who were accommodated outside inner city areas with established ethnically and religiously diverse populations experienced greater levels of racism and social isolation. The negative attitudes towards these children were not limited to adult members of the public but also included members of their peer group and professionals working with them. The unaccompanied or separated migrant children interviewed for the research came from a variety of backgrounds in terms of education and class, and this may have had a direct impact on their ability to adapt to life in England. The local authorities also reported that they often struggled to maintain the quality of care demanded by both domestic legislation and international human rights norms as they were not provided with sufficient central government funding to meet the complex needs of this cohort of children and young people.