Statement on separated children following BBC Spotlight

Statement from the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Koulla Yiasouma in response to the BBC Spotlight programme:

“I find it deeply distressing to hear about these young people who have gone missing. The State has a duty to protect every child in its care.

“Separated children coming to Northern Ireland are some of our most vulnerable young people, and are particularly at risk of trafficking and exploitation.

“My first concern is for their safety and I urge all those responsible to renew their efforts to locate these missing young people.  Most will now be young adults, but they still remain extremely vulnerable and our priority must be their protection and ensuring they receive the support they need.

“It seems clear that over this period the system in Northern Ireland was unprepared, and without full safeguards in place for these children.

“I recognise that much has recently been done  to strengthen arrangements and put in place more robust support for separated children.

“I am reassured that since the summer of 2014 no young people have been reported missing. I have also visited the main residential home where many separated young people are living, to hear directly from the young people and staff and was impressed by what I saw and heard.

“However this does not detract from my concern for the children who have gone missing, and that agencies must make sure all lessons from these tragic cases have been learned.

“Northern Ireland should have the highest standards of care in place for these children. NICCY has consistently advised government that we should be meeting international standards for separated children, and this includes making sure each child is supported by an independent Guardian. While this was introduced in law more than one year ago it is still not yet a reality in children’s lives.

“Guardians will not only help separated young people negotiate what can be a complex and unfamiliar system, but crucially also help to keep them safe. We cannot afford to delay this any further and I call on the Minister of Health and the Assembly Health Committee to urgently address this.

“I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure we continue to build on the developments we now have in place.”

Notes to Editors

• The term separated children includes those who are subject to immigration control – they may be victims of trafficking, unaccompanied asylum seekers, migrants arriving alone or children who arrived with a family member and have been abandoned or bereaved. They are separated from their homes, their families and friends and may have experienced trauma, abuse, violence and poverty in their country of origin and in their journey to Northern Ireland which may have involved travel across many jurisdictions.
• You can view the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 which places an obligation on government to provide independent Guardians to separated children here.
• UK Children’s Commissioner’s report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which recommended the Committee call for guardianship to be commenced urgently in NI – you can view the report here (pg17-18)
• NICCY commissioned a report on guardianship which you can review here
• For more information please contact Andrew McGall Communications Officer at communications@niccy.org or 028 9031 1616, mobile – 07917 544 177