Senior managers at Kent County Council have revealed they cannot care for any more asylum-seeking children. Kent County Council pleaded for help as it revealed it could no longer safely accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arriving on it’s shores.
Any children who are found from today will be left with the UK Border Force, after more arrivals at the weekend “tipped the balance” according to council leader Roger Gough. It is a shame that they have not left all the children with the Border Force from the beginning – it may have forced the government’s hand earlier in the crisis.
In another shock revelation, child migrants have to be cared for until they reach the age of……..25. When they turn 18 they are called ‘care leavers’ and are entitled to support until they are 25 (the Children and Social Work Act).
All children, in the Care system after the age of 16, not just unaccompanied children, are entitled to a leaving care service until 25. No Uk parent/ carer gets Child Benefit if their child is in care. The Tory Government changed the law from 21 to 25. They also made Child benefit means tested.
Money is always found to look after migrants – meanwhile kent services are being cut
So when the little migrants arrive on our shore claiming to be 16 (even though they are 30!), the UK is still obligated to look after them for a further 9 years. No wonder there is such a stampede to get to our shores.
The only way to ‘age’ these migrants is via a dental check, but the BDA (British Dentists Association) said it was “vigorously opposed” to the use of dental X-rays to try to determine the age of asylum seekers. “It’s not only an inaccurate method for assessing age, but it is both inappropriate and unethical to take radiographs of people when there is no health benefit for them”. Sounds like the BDA are doing their best not to get involved.
Doctors of the World UK also called the idea “unethical and unnecessary”, saying “healthcare workers are not border guards”. In that case, the UK Border Force need to hire some dentists and get them to do the checks once the migrants arrive at Dover. If they can do COVID tests, they can also do dental checks.
Under UK law, the local authority has a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the area who are in need, including children seeking asylum who are unaccompanied by an adult.
Because these children are often found on the shores of Kent after travelling across the Channel by boat, Kent County Council are given the responsibility of caring for them. This means, that taxpayers money from people living in Kent is going towards care for these people. Sadly, this means there is less money to help with local community support and care for people living in the county.
In 2019, council chiefs announced they were facing a £6.1m shortfall in the costs of looking after vulnerable asylum-seeking children, blaming government under-funding. At this point the council was looking after 267 children, and a further 895 who were classed as care leavers.
One person in Kent spoke for the entire county, when they said “This is a national issue and should be the responsibility of the national government, not Kent Council Taxpayers”.
