Describes the care and treatment of child asylum seekers and refugees in the United Kingdom. Despite the declaration of rights of children incorporated in the Children Act (1989) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, child asylum seekers are routinely denied these rights. Several factors have contributed to this situation: imposition of adult restrictions on children, detention of children, negative construction of the terms immigrant and refugee, and inadequate and inconsistent policies and legal framework. The focus in the treatment of child asylum seekers and refugees should be to protect and promote the rights of the individual child. Social workers must reclaim the child rights agenda in order to protect basic freedoms that have been restricted by immigration controls. (IP)
