A recent report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration looked at the Home Office’s handling of unaccompanied children seeking asylum, and gave particular focus to how the best interests of those children are upheld when they are transferred from one local authority area to another under the National Transfer Scheme (NTS). The…
UK government confirms legal aid available for victims of trafficking following court challenge Legal aid is vital for children and young people to realise their rights. However, legal aid was cut for a number of areas of law – the negative impact of which is explored in our recent report. One area where it was still available was for victims…
BBC Radio 4’s Today programme highlighted the plight of young people who have grown up in the UK who are subject to the hostile environment
We have published an information page on studying, ‘no study’ conditions and immigration bail. In January 2018, changes were made to the law regarding immigration bail. Anyone without leave to remain to enter will be subject to immigration bail. This includes asylum seekers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, undocumented children and young people and care leavers without…
CCLC recently collaborated with the Youth Justice Legal Centre (‘YJLC’) and others on a guide about ‘county lines’ and trafficking. This new YJLC guide is intended to give criminal lawyers and professionals information about county lines gangs, child trafficking & modern slavery defences for children. County lines, trafficking & child criminal exploitation (CCE) County lines is “the…
CCLC welcomes the Mayor of London’s strategy for social integration and the Mayor’s commitment to working towards a shorter, more affordable route to citizenship. The strategy, published today, recognises that: thousands of young Londoners have grown up here but cannot fulfil their potential because of insecure immigration status. Despite London being their home, these young people…
The Supreme Court has published its judgment on an important case about international adoption in which CCLC intervened to emphasise the importance of considering the best interests of children. The case, SM (Algeria), was about a young Algerian, abandoned by her parents, who was adopted by way of a Kefalah adoption by a French couple.…
The Migrant Children’s Project is looking to recruit Youth Rights Trainers to co-deliver our existing training courses and to develop new training courses. Youth Rights Trainers will be individuals who want to make a difference and who bring the expertise of life experience (in particular, experience of the UK immigration / asylum system OR experience…
Today’s report from the Home Affairs Committee raises serious concerns about how the immigration system will cope with the changes brought by Brexit and criticises the continued uncertainty over the status of EU nationals. Uncertainty for EEA nationals The process of registering the status of the three million EEA nationals who are resident in the…
Late last year, three people were convicted of trafficking girls from Vietnam and forcing them to work in nail bars across England. The conviction was described as the first successful UK prosecution involving minors under new legislation. Sentenced on 2 January, Viet Nguyen, 29, and Thu Nguyen, 48, were found guilty of arranging the transport…
On 5 December, the Ministry of Justice announced that it would relax the rules on the evidence that must be provided legal aid to be granted in cases of domestic violence or child abuse. Under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), virtually all private family law issues were removed from…
Exactly one year after it was promised by the then ministers for immigration and children, the government published its safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied children on 1 November. The strategy’s introductory and welcome message is that refugee and migrant children are children first and foremost, and must not be defined by their immigration status. It makes…