Sudden reduction in support exposes youngsters to real risk of significant danger and exploitation
ECPAT UK and Migrant & Refugee Children's Legal Unit (MiCLU) were among over 20 charities who last week wrote to the Children's Commissioner for England with concerns over the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on young people seeking asylum and those with irregular migration status.
In a 7-page letter, the charities said: "We are concerned that for young people, who were already facing great challenges in access to support and care, the uncertainty and serious risk to life brought about by the pandemic, means that their needs as young survivors of trafficking and exploitation and other forms of violence and abuse are being overlooked, whilst increasing. We are concerned about their increased risk of going missing and facing further exploitation and abuse at this time when their need for support and care are not being met."
As a result of the lockdown, the charities note that there has been a sudden withdrawal of much of the support young asylum seekers and victims of trafficking rely on for their physical, emotional and psychological health and well-being. They say that important and hard fought for statutory safeguarding duties have also been significantly curtailed during the pandemic.
ECPAT UK and the others stated in their letter: "Some young people, reliant on local authorities to provide financial support, are at increased risk of exploitation due to late payments. While late payments are never acceptable, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, young people could raise this with former foster carers, charities or staff at school or college with relative ease and ensure a prompt response in order that their basic needs were met. During the pandemic lockdown, with most institutions physically closed, and most adults to whom the young people would normally turn to working remotely and inaccessible in-person, young people who find themselves in this financial situation have far fewer options to turn to, exposing them to actual and real risk of significant danger and exploitation."
On Saturday, the Observer reported that there has been a significant increase in the number of trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from the UK's care system following a reduction in protection, especially since the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 came into force in April.
According to the Observer, vital legal protections have been removed, leaving already vulnerable children at risk of becoming destitute and exploited or retrafficked.
Eleanor Brown, managing director of the south London asylum support group CARAS, told the Observer: "We have seen a notable increase in the number of young people who have gone missing or experienced homelessness as a result of the lack of contact they have had with statutory services. We are seeing some alarming outcomes."
Brown highlighted the case of one 17-year-old who has been missing from care for more than a month: "He is not accessing payments from social care, leading to serious concerns about how he is surviving. He is not in touch with any statutory or support services."
ECPAT UK's Patricia Durr told the Observer: "The young people we've identified have only come to light because charities like ours are plugging gaps in support and contact and could be just the tip of the iceberg. This has taken place against a backdrop of government underfunding of local authority children's services, lack of mandatory training on child trafficking for professionals and changes to children's social care regulations during the pandemic."