“The Home Office defines an unaccompanied child as ‘a person who, at the time of making the asylum application, is under 18 years of age or who, in the absence of documentary evidence, appears to be under that age, and who is applying for asylum in his/her own right and is without adult family member(s) or guardian(s) to turn to in this country.’ This definition excludes children who are cared for by a distant relative, or a sibling who is also little over the age of 18. With the changes to the asylum process as a result of the New Asylum Model, also come proposals for a new process to handle asylum applications from children. The asylum process for unaccompanied children seeking asylum will remain slightly different to take account of children and young people’s particular vulnerability. The new proposals are: – Children over the age of 12 will be interviewed about their asylum claim; – Unaccompanied children seeking asylum will also be given a designated Case Owner trained to work with minors. The Case Owner will see the case through from the time the child claims asylum until the end of the process; and – To ensure more frequent contact between children seeking asylum and their designated Case Owner.” – Publisher’s description
