Hello Marika

Here are the publications :

https://books.google.co.th/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qjEsxQmfC1cC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=refugee+rights+in+UK&ots=-bUeOezIC-&sig=nqMXCs4DCYaevRupz3ptYbd8W88&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=refugee%20rights%20in%20UK&f=false

http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/32829/sample/9780521632829wsc00.pdf

https://www.iarlj.org/general/images/stories/docs/flyer_-_the_refugee_in_international_law_iarlj.pdf

good luck with your study

a.

Have a look at the government links Harshvardhan provided, I would also speak to an immigration specialist as they will be able to give up to date advice.

Previous experience has been that unaccompanied minors should claim asylum in the first country that they arrive and that they don't have a 'right' to enter the UK if they have passed through other countries.

Also there needs to be a clear distinction on refugee and asylum seeker. In the UK you are an Asylum Seeker until you are given Refugee status, which is after you have applied for status. There is an exception to this when you have been given status in a UNHCR programme when you may be given status before you arrive in the UK.

When I was working with refugees and asylum seekers we saw cases of parents in one country and children in another with no possibility of re-unification until specified periods of time had passed with a visa being issued.

There is also difficulties if the asylum seekers have no id or papers as there can be lengthy process to prove they are underage or of age as different process apply. One thing that was most notable in the past was limited status for children, which had to be applied for again when they became 18.

I would speak to a UK legal specialist as they will be able to go give you the most up to date details.

Hope this helps

Duncan

Thank you so much this is all incredibly helpful! 

Hi Marika

There was a recent judicial review case in the UK High Court which allowed three children and one vulnerable young adult who were in the Calais Jungle to enter the UK to have their asylum claims considered here. This was under the provisions of the Dublin 3 Regulation, despite the fact they hadn't actually claimed asylum in France yet. The case name and references are:

- The Queen on the application of ZAT, IAJ, KAM, AAM, MAT, MAJ and LAM v Secretary of State for the Home Department (JR/15401/2015 and JR/15405/2015)

The Dublin 3 regulation does provide that any child with a family member claiming asylum or lawfully resident in another member state should be admitted to the member state where the family member is, to have their asylum application considered in that member state. The regulation is quite long and hard to read, but essentially if they've got a parent, grandparent or sibling in the UK they should be able to benefit from the Calais JR judgment. If it's an aunt or uncle that should still be possible provided they are lawfully resident in the UK, but there isn't yet any case law on that.

There are in practice some problems: first it can be difficult in practice to prove that the person is a family member (and willing and able to look after the child) when the child has no documents proving the relationship.

Also, as Duncan said above, they have to prove they are children, which is not always easy if they have no documents.

The authorities of EU member states are not as prompt as they could be with making take charge requests under the Dublin regulation, so it can take up to 11 months to make the transfer even when all time limits are complied with, even longer if not, and the French asylum system is difficult to access even for adults, let alone for children.

If the child has a parent already here as a refugee they can apply for refugee family reunion under the immigration rules, which should be easier and quicker.

If he has no family members here then there is no legal way for him to enter the UK to claim asylum. If an adult enters unlawfully and has been fingerprinted elsewhere in Europe then they will be returned to that other country - again under the Dublin Regulation. A child should not be returned to a previous country if they claim asylum in the UK. There is nothing in the Refugee Convention which says a person must claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, but it is a principle of the so-called Common European Asylum System (though of course the person seeking asylum has no way of knowing that).

Hope that helps

Jo