Services for young immigrants

There are services available to help refugees and asylum seekers in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

The Unaccompanied Minors Team (UMT) provides help to young people under 18 years old who are asylum seekers and not entitled to claim state benefits, who have no family or friends to support them in the UK and who have a connection to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Refugee Council

The Refugee Council gives practical help and promotes the rights of asylum seekers in the UK and abroad. Help includes advice sessions for asylum seekers on immigration status, housing benefits, health, education and employment. There is a telephone advice line and a training and employment section.

The Refugee Council One Stop Service in Brixton assists asylum seekers with processing applications for support and accommodation from the National Asylum Support Service.

You have the right to ask for an interpreter whenever you see someone from Social Services, a doctor, or anyone else working in the Health Service. Ask services to arrange for an interpreter to be present at your next appointment.

The Unaccompanied Minors Team (UMT)

The Unaccompanied Minors Team was established in December 1998 in response to the increasing numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children coming to the UK. In July 2001 there were about 6,000 of these children in the UK, of whom 1,400 were under 16.

Who is eligible for a service from the UMT?

The UMT Duty worker will assess all young people who approach the team in order to determine their eligibility. To be eligible for a service the young person needs to:

  • an asylum seeker
  • be under eighteen
  • have no family in the U.K
  • have no friends to support them in the UK
  • have no connection to another Local Authority

If the young person is not found to be eligible for a service they will be referred to an appropriate agency. For example, if the UMT assessment or Home Office documents indicate that the young person is over 18 years of age he/she will be referred to the National Asylum Support Service (NASS: see contact details below), or if the young person has a connection to another Borough he/she will be referred to the appropriate team in that Borough.

What services are provided?

Where eligibility has been established, the children and young people receive services within the framework that applies to all children and young people in the care of Social Services. This framework is set out in the Children Act 1989.

Young people are provided with accommodation, usually in shared rooms in shared houses. This accommodation will be in or outside London. Under certain circumstances, young people may be placed with a family who can provide extra support.

The UMT assists young people to find English courses and other educational courses and to contact extra support resources if necessary e.g. Connexions service, counselling service.

A sufficient amount of money is given to buy food and suitable clothes. If school/college is being attended money will be given for bus fares. The young people may also be in need of help to develop independent living skills e.g. cooking and budgeting skills.

The support service for young people turning eighteen depends on whether they have been supported under Section 17 or Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, and on their immigration status. The supports services post eighteen include the Independent Support Team, NASS or the Benefits Agency

Who is considered a refugee?

The UK is a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

The Convention states that a refugee is a person who 'owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country'. Therefore, all applications for asylum in UK are considered in accordance with the obligations under the Convention.

The UMT service users come from countries in Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe and all should have claimed asylum. When a young person receives Exceptional or Indefinite Leave to Remain they cease to be an asylum-seeker.

Support systems for asylum seekers in the UK

The UK immigration system was restructured in 2000. Since April 2000, the majority of asylum-seeking single adults and families arriving in the UK have been dispersed to live outside London under the National Asylum Support Service (NASS).

The Home Office has not proposed to change the support arrangements for unaccompanied minors. It will remain the responsibility of local authorities to support this group of young people.

Useful contacts

Applications for assistance from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) can be made through the Refugee Council.