Refugee Children

The theme of the Refugee Council's conference this autumn was 'refugee children'. Two conferences were held in London and York.

20 October 2005 - Regents College, London
9 November 2005 - Royal York Hotel, York

		Download a copy of the conference report (PDF)
		Download a copy of the conference brochure (PDF)
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Refugee children are some of the most vulnerable and marginalised children in our society. The Refugee Council has a long tradition of working with these children. Even in the face of increasing demands on all agencies working in this field it is a priority to ensure the safety of refugee children and to maximise their opportunities.

The conference aimed to:

• identify the challenges facing refugee children and how current legislation relates to the protection and life chances of those children
• determine routes for improving protection and integration, such as through education, health care and guardianship
• examine the duties and roles of statutory bodies and other agencies, and how these roles relate to the rights of refugee children
• demonstrate practical initiatives to develop more comprehensive and consistent support
• explore how agencies can work together across a range of sectors in a proactive and flexible way.

Eight speakers provided information and raised critical issues at each conference. A brief film of young asylum seekers talking about their experiences and hopes was shown. Nearly 400 people from a wide range of voluntary and statutory organisations attended the conferences and contributed through questions to the speakers and in afternoon workshops.