An Evaluation of the Safe Case Transfer Pilot Project /

EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF MIGRATION AND SOCIAL CARE, 2006
PDF - http://www.adss.org.uk/publications/guidance/safecaseevaluation.pdf
Charles Watters and Kim Robinson
"At the time of writing, the social care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children is a matter of concern and debate not only across the UK, but in a range of receiving countries. It is not hard to find reasons for this level of concern. Unaccompanied asylum seeking children, who will be referred to by the acronym UASC’s for the remainder of this report, are subjects of two converging areas of law and policy, that pertaining to asylum and immigration and that pertaining to the welfare of children. One cannot analyse the position of UASC's without bringing to the fore the complex interrelationship between these two legislative and policy spheres, and the tensions that may exist between seeking to look after the welfare of children and pressures to scrutinise the veracity of asylum claims and to maintain control over borders. Social service departments are at the forefront in this complex field as they have primary responsibility under UK law for the care of vulnerable children."