These are just two of the cases the Children's panel with on a regular basis.
A and J are a 16 year old young women who arrived from Uganda with her 8 year old niece. They had both been raped. At first, they told that they would need to be separated as the Home Office did not believe that the 16 year old was the age she was. The Children’s Panel worked with her to ensure that she had an age assessment, which found she was 16, and Social Services were asked to place them together. Social Services could not do this, and again, there was a threat that they would be separated. We worked with Social Services to ensure that they stayed together. The Home Office turned down their claim for asylum despite there being a clear danger to them if they returned. We worked to ensure that the evidence and information was gathered to include in a case to the Home Office, and 6 months ago, they were both granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom. They are now 18 and 10, and are living together in a small flat, and are both attending school and college
F is a young man from Afghanistan who stated he was 16 when he came into the United Kingdom, but the Home Office did not believe his age and placed him in a detention centre. Through the visitors group for the detention centre, the Children’s Panel received a referral and visited him; they felt very strongly that he was the age he stated and requested an age assessment by the local Social Services. Social Services were clear that they did not have the resources to conduct the age assessment for a further 2 weeks, but we continued to lobby Social Services and involve a solicitor in the case, and the assessment was brought forward. When he was assessed, he was found to be 16 and was immediately released.
The three young people featured in these personal stories had a positive end to their ordeals and they still have a long way to go to overcome the traumas experienced in their young lives. Other children we have worked with have not been so 'fortunate.'
