- In 2019, worldwide, 25,000 children applied for asylum having arrived in the country of refuge alone, with no parent or guardian, according to the most recent global figures published by UNHCR.
- In the year ending December 2020, the UK received 2,291 applications for asylum from unaccompanied children.
- Many of them come from Eritrea, which has been condemned by the UN for gross human rights violations.
- We usually refer to these children as separated, as it better describes the ongoing separation from their parents and family members,
- As well as Eritrea, they come from countries including Sudan, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Albania, Ethiopia and Syria.
- The majority are aged between 14 and 17 years of age but we do work with younger children
- Children are also regularly trafficked into the UK to be forced into domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and other forms of forced labour including cannabis cultivation. We are there for them.
