Guardianship of Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers
Our key call for change:
- A Guardianship Service on a statutory basis which would provide a guardian for every Unaccompanied Child in Wales seeking asylum.
Background information and introduction to our work
With our partners at the Bevan Foundation, The Children’s Society and British Red Cross we have prepared a research briefing, where we make the case for a national Guardianship Service for all Unaccompanied Children in Wales.
Unaccompanied Children are some of the most vulnerable members of our society, who are required to engage with the complex process of seeking asylum, often while experiencing trauma and upheaval. Any child, including one seeking asylum, should be able to enjoy all of their rights set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and should be granted the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of their family environment.
The call for a Guardianship Service for all Unaccompanied Children has been made over many years and is supported by respected bodies within Wales and internationally. The establishment of a Guardianship Service has been a clear expectation of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child since early devolution. In its 2023 Concluding Observations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child again recommended that a Guardianship Service should be introduced for all Unaccompanied Children.
Calls for a Guardianship Service in Wales have been made since 2005, with the most recent call made in 2023 in a report commissioned by Welsh Government on immigration advice services in Wales.
Our briefing identifies gaps in support for Unaccompanied Children, particularly in respect of their ability to access essential services, to access justice and engage with the process of seeking asylum.
We discuss the need for such a service and present evidence of its benefits and identify the key characteristics of an effective service, including the key benefits that Guardians would offer.
Since the publication of our first Research Briefing in April 2024, we are pleased to report that the Welsh Government has committed to “exploring how a guardianship service could work, the resources needed to implement it, and the intersection with other statutory support such as personal advisors and advocacy provision.”
We have been engaging with the Welsh Government, and they asked us to consider further whether existing services, can provide the support that Unaccompanied Children require.
We are pleased to share our follow-on briefing on our call for a Guardianship Service for Unaccompanied Children in Wales, that aims to address these questions. This briefing was written by Bevan Foundation, Children’s Legal Centre Wales, Children’s Society and TGP Cymru. We were able to refer to detailed evidence from TGP Cymru, who work directly with Unaccompanied Children in Wales, and we are also very grateful to the Ethnic Youth Support Team for sharing case studies with us, further highlighting the experiences of this vulnerable cohort of children.
Based on our own research and exploration, these existing services either lack the capacity or do not possess the relevant specialist expertise to deliver the critical support these children urgently need.
Please access our joint follow on briefing.
