Submitted by crinadmin on
Child asylum seekers arriving in Dover, some suffering from illness or serious injuries, are being denied basics like rest, food and medicine before they complete oppressive and unlawful interviews with the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) has revealed the scale of the problem in its new report, Safe at Last? Children on the Front Line of Border Control. The UKBA says that these interviews are needed “to establish the welfare needs for the child ahead of their transfer into the care of social services.” RMJ argues the interviews show scant regard for the children’s welfare. As well as often being denied basic care, children are interviewed without the support of an independent adult or legal representative. Information obtained from the interviews has been used against them in their applications for international protection. RMJ lawyers argue the treatment of children interviewed on arrival at Dover is unlawful. Safe at Last? describes the experiences of children arriving in Dover in their own words. One of these children was suffering from a bomb injury and recent stab wounds when he arrived in the UK. Another had injuries from a gunshot wound. Both were detained and were subjected to interview without being offered any medical care. Caroline Slocock, chief executive of Refugee and Migrant Justice said: “Unaccompanied children coming into Dover arrive hungry, cold and often ill, having travelled for months in situations of great danger, fleeing war-torn countries like Afghanistan in order to find safety in the UK. “Their welcome is an interview by the UK Border Agency that often puts welfare at risk and is used to gather information which is later used against them. Such interviews, carried out without any independent adult or legal representative present, and sometimes without the right interpreters, would be entirely unacceptable anywhere else in Britain. Children should not be treated in this way. “We believe this treatment is unlawful and have repeatedly raised concerns with the UK Border Agency over the last 12 months. They say that the interviews are intended to help protect children but, on the ground, unacceptable treatment continues. Children seeking asylum should be given care first, not subjected to questioning. We are taking this issue to the courts to decide but, in the meantime, we believe the interviews should stop.” Further information
pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/RMJ_safe_at_last.pdf