Refugee Children and the Market in Legal Services

Social Market Foundation (SMF) in partnership with the Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centreis is orgaisng an event entitled Refugee Children and the Market in Legal Services. Speakers will include Judith Dennis (Refugee Council), Rachiel de Chavez (Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre), Ian Mulheirn (SMF).

This event is free and open to all; however registration is required. If you would like to attend this event, please email events@smf.co.uk or call 020 7227 4412. Please note that places at this event are limited.

While many unaccompanied asylum seeking children are granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK, for many individuals this may not be the most appropriate outcome. The appeal process that can result in a child being granted full refugee status is currently underused. This is largely due to the difficulty in securing Legal Services Commission funding for the appeal process. There is a real need for appropriate legal casework to provide an evidence base for a policy discussion of the appeal process as it applies to refugee children.

The SMF is working with Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre (HFLC) to ask whether the rules should change to a) secure the right legal outcome for refugee children and b) reduce the number of appeal cases that come to court with little chance of success.

Many children are granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK at age 14 or 15. At this point this seems to many a satisfactory and just outcome and few individuals pursue an appeal through the courts in the hope of securing permanent residency. However when refugee children reach 18 and begin to contemplate a return to their country of origin, they are sometimes advised to begin another court process in order to gain permanent leave to remain in the UK. These appeals are largely without foundation and are very costly to the justice system.

HFLC will be conducting legal casework with individuals who have not been granted permanent leave to remain in the UK but seem to have a good case for appealing this decision on their immigration status. SMF will be analysing the results in addressing key policy questions.

• Are the Key Performance Indicators laid down by the Legal Service Commission effective in making sure that refugee children have appropriate access to justice?
• Should unaccompanied asylum seeking children have automatic access to the appeal process if they are denied refugee status in order to head off costly appeals in later years?

Documents: 

SMF event invite