In January this year, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron launched a campaign to bring thousands of “unaccompanied” Syrian children to the UK. The campaign was initially rejected by the House of Commons but has gained momentum in recent weeks following its defeat in the House of Lords.
No one is saying that unaccompanied orphaned children in Syria don't deserve help, but the UK's dismal record with children in its care is open to debate. Can the UK provide a safe and secure environment for Syrian refugee children when it has utterly failed to provide a safe and secure environment for British children? Or should these children receive special care?
I posed this question In a Facebook post In January I asked people to contact Tim Farron to ask him what he was going to do to ensure the safety of migrant children coming to the UK. He refused to answer my questions, or those of any of the people who had contacted him.
Today the media was full of reports of a letter written by Sir Eric Reich, chairman of the Kindertransport (Jewish Refugee Association), to Prime Minister David Cameron, calling on him to do more for Syrian refugee children. “It is our duty to provide shelter for those in need,” he wrote.
Apparently Prime Minister David Cameron has succumbed to the pressure. He announced today that the UK will accept thousands of unaccompanied children from Greece, Italy and France. “No country has done more to help Syrian refugees than the UK,” Cameron said.
What he probably should have said is that no country has done more to create Syrian refugees in the first place.
Within minutes, Save the Children responded Responding to Prime Minister Cameron's announcement, he said:
“Many refugee children have fled war and persecution, making dangerous journeys alone to reach Europe, but now they are living on the streets, in overcrowded camps or in police custody. The Prime Minister has today offered these vulnerable children a lifeline. We will work with the Government and the United Nations to ensure that these commitments are delivered quickly, and that thousands of lonely and vulnerable children can be made safe in the UK in the coming months.
If we are going to have these children, perhaps it is worth looking at the UK's track record with children in care. Take Nottingham for example. Two police operationsTwo investigative organizations, Daybreak and Zeres, identified 130 victims from one orphanage and 10 more homes suspected of abuse, a pattern that is being repeated across the country and has led to institutionalized abuse.
Then there's the issue of “missing” children, something no one seems to be concerned about at all.
In 2012 the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults and the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) for Care Leavers were established. The report was issued (pdf) This follows the Missing Children Inquiry, co-chaired by Anne Coffey MP, Chair of the APPG on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults, and the Earl of Listowel, Vice-Chair of the APPG on Care Children and Care Leavers. The first few paragraphs of the preamble say it all:
There has been a scandal in England over children going missing from care homes, an issue that went largely unnoticed until recent child sexual exploitation cases in Rochdale and elsewhere drew attention to the issue.
Going missing is a key sign that a child may be in great danger. When a child goes missing, they are at very serious risk of physical abuse and sexual exploitation, and sometimes they become so desperate that they turn to robbery and theft to survive.
Until recently, protecting these children has not been anyone's top priority, and as a result, we don't know exactly how many children go missing from care, where they go, or what happens to them when they go missing.
In fact, police data estimates that 10,000 children go missing from care homes every year, while official government data shows that only 930 children went missing from care homes last year – a huge and disturbing contradiction.
Children are removed from their parents because we believe they are not safe or adequately cared for at home. Yet the evidence clearly shows that we are failing to keep the most vulnerable children in our care safe. In fact, children who go missing from care are systematically abandoned and placed at great risk by the systems and professionals that are there to protect them. This is unacceptable.
This is truly unacceptable. According to the APPG report, in 2012 there were 68,000 children in care in the UK.
Local authorities who look after children are required to report annually to the Ministry of Education whether a child has run away from home for more than 24 hours. In 2011, data showed that 930 children were reported missing. Police use this indicator of children missing for more than 24 hours to: suggest There are 17,000 cases each year, with 5,000 children going missing from care. (Emphasis added by me)
How many of these children will return home? How many will become victims of trafficking? The APPG report states:
There are also major issues with the quality of data collected on trafficked children: the figure of around 300 recorded by CEOP between 2007 and 2010 is widely believed to be just the tip of the iceberg, and the study also identified a lack of robust and comprehensive data as a major obstacle to keeping these children safe.
In fact, our research shows that the quality of data collected on children who are abused, missing, trafficked, or a combination of these has not improved in the four years since the report was released.
To justify his demand that the UK should take in Syrian refugee children, Tim Farron points out that 10,000 such children are already missing in Europe, but he seems completely unconcerned that there is apparently no way to be sure that the same fate does not await them here.
There is a vote in the House of Commons on this issue next week. Now is the time to take this issue to every MP in the country, and to so-called “children” charities such as the NSPCC and Save the Children. As I have said before, Syrian refugee children deserve our help. After all, we created their problems. But any support they receive from us must include assurances that they will be safe when they arrive here and throughout their childhood. How can we guarantee that when the government and those who run charities choose to do nothing about the appalling conditions in our child care system?
Main Image Credit: dfid