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Unaccompanied children may seek the assistance of Help at Hand for the same problems as other children in care, but often they will call about issues that relate to or are more acute because of their immigration status.  

Help at Hand has a phone interpretation service to assist children and care leavers who struggle with English.  

Our advisors visit unaccompanied children seeking asylum in reception centres and also the Home Office site where children are processed when they arrive on small boats.  

Here are two examples of the work Help at Hand has done for children and young people who arrived in England as Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum: 

Ali 

Ali arrived in the UK as an unaccompanied child and was put in the care of a local authority in a rural part of England. The authority placed him in supported (semi-independent) accommodation in London. He attended college, made friends and played football. All his relationships were in London.  

A couple of days before he turned 18, he was told he had to pack up and move to his ‘placing’ Local Authority many hours away. As Ali’s asylum application had not been processed, he was completely reliant on his parent local authority for assistance – he wasn’t able to work or claim benefits.  

He called Help at Hand with the help of a support worker. Help at Hand made representations on his behalf and tried to get him an advocate. This took several weeks and had to be escalated with the authority, but he was allowed to stay where he was until the complaint was investigated.  

As a result of the advocacy support from Help at Hand, it was found that his authority had not adhered to their own processes regarding transition to adulthood and had not treated Ali as it should have. During this time Ali’s immigration claim was accepted which gave him more freedom to work, live and study in the UK.   

Eventually, Ali was able to stay where he was and was grateful for the opportunity to continue with the life he had made for himself in London. 

Bilal 

Bilal also arrived in the UK as an unaccompanied child seeking asylum. He was placed in a children’s home aged 14. He made good relationships in the home with the staff and other children. He had no other family in the UK.  

When he turned 16, he was told by his social worker he had to move to hostel accommodation. Bilal called Help at Hand expressing his distress at being pushed to leave his home. Help at Hand referred him to an advocate and together they submitted a formal complaint. However, they returned again to Help at Hand when they heard that the move was to continue as planned.  

This was escalated by Help at Hand to senior management in Bilal’s local authority to ensure they would take Bilal’s wishes into consideration when applying the guidance around placement moves, especially considering the time he had spent in the home. He was allowed to stay.