Young children of asylum seekers abandoned at UK airports

Children in the thousands, some as young as three years old, are being found abandoned at airports and ports in the UK, according to a recent report.

Figures released by the Home Office show that 3,525 unaccompanied children under the age of 18 were asylum applicants in 2007. This represents an increase of two per cent over the previous year.

Many of the young asylum-seekers come from war-torn or desperately impoverished areas, with more than 30 per cent arriving from Afghanistan, 10 per cent from Iran and nine from Iraq.

Advocacy groups have commented that relatives who abandon their children at UK ports and airports have done so as the only real option they see available to them, but clearly the increase in numbers is adding a financial burden to local authorities, as the cost of looking after the young children is estimated at £150 million.

At the Southampton docks in Hampshire and at the airport, 68 children were found abandoned over the past year. One young child found at the docks was just three years old.

A spokesperson for the local authority explained that asylum-seeking children would receive the same type of care as any other children by the council.

In February, the Home Office announced plans announced plans which would permit sending children back to the country of their origin.

A Border Agency spokesperson said, however, that an unaccompanied child would never be deported until their family had been reached or care arranged.

www.homeoffice.gov.uk