unaccompanied minors | Broadsheet.ie

Chester House in Dublin 7 was the location of an unregistered hostel for 27 separated teenage girls seeking asylum in 2009 and where the Children’s Ombudsman found the only staff present at night were two security staff

Between 2010 and 2017, 28 “unaccompanied minors” or “separated children” went missing from State care.

These are people under the age of 18 who arrive in Ireland seeking asylum without being accompanied by a parent or a guardian.

According to Tusla, four separated children went missing in 2010; six in 2011; two in 2012; two in 2013; one in 2014; five in 2015; five in 2016; and three in 2017.

Separated children don’t reside in the Direct Provision system, where other asylum seeking adults and families reside.

Instead, since 2010, separated children have been mainly cared for in foster care settings.

This followed a decade of separated children largely residing in mainly unsupervised hostels – from which hundreds such children went missing.

For example, in June 2007, five Nigerian girls, the youngest of whom was aged 11, went missing from their accommodation in Ireland and there were fears at the time that they were being used in Ireland’s sex industry.

In a 2009 report by the then Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan, she found a stark difference between the unregistered (seven) and registered hostels (two) used by separated children in Dublin at that time.

She examined the unregistered hostels with addresses at Staircase Hostel and Brehon House, both in Dublin city centre and both of which accommodated 30 people; Sandford House, Dublin 6; Chester House, Dublin 7: Ashton House, Dublin 9; and Riversdale in Co Dublin.

The registered hostels she examined were Lansa House, Dublin 4 (which opened in 2008); and Belleview House, Dublin 24 – both of which accommodated six young people.

She found the registered hostels were run by care staff, while the unregistered hostels were run by managers who were not qualified care workers.

She found that, at night time in the unregistered hostels, the only staff present would have been security staff – while registered hostels would have had five qualified care staff at any one time during the day and two available at night time.

At the time of writing her report, Ms Logan also wrote about the “alarming” number of children who were disappearing from State care.

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A vigil outside Leinster House on November 2 supporting calls for 200 unaccompanied child refugees in Calais to be relocated to Ireland

Last night.

The Dáil passed an all-party motion committing Ireland to take 200 children from the former makeshift refugee camp in Calais, France.

It passed without debate.

The motion came about following a campaign by the group Not On Our Watch – a group of Irish volunteers who have been travelling back and forth to Calais to help those present.

The group, and supporters, held a vigil outside Leinster House last week calling for the motion to be carried.

From last night’s proceedings:

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald: I move:

“That Dáil Éireann:

— stands in solidarity with all people displaced by war and conflict seeking international protection in Europe;

— notes that the French Government has dismantled the refugees camp in Calais and has moved the unaccompanied 1,500 children to other areas in France;

— notes with concern that up to 10,000 children are missing and at risk across Europe and that this requires a special humanitarian response from European Union (EU) member states;

— commends the Irish humanitarian response led by the Naval Service’s ongoing search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea and our humanitarian aid programmes;

— notes the establishment of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme in September 2015 to implement the decision of Dáil Éireann to bring 4,000 persons seeking refuge to Ireland and opt in to the EU relocation and resettlement programmes and endorses the stated priority to support the wellbeing of, and to provide safe services for, the protection of unaccompanied minors, children and their families;

— notes the disappointment that there is slow progress to date in actually relocating refugees to Ireland for various reasons;

— commends the work of Irish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their volunteers for the support that they have given in addressing the migrant crisis;

— agrees that where practical to prioritise those unaccompanied minors from countries specified in the EU Relocation Programme as those who are likely to be in most need of assistance; and

— notes the ongoing commitment and resources of the French and UK authorities to provide protection to unaccompanied minors from the unofficial camp in Calais in accordance with EU and international law; and

calls on the Government to:

— convey to the French Government the solidarity of the Irish people and of Dáil Éireann in relation to the protection of unaccompanied minors previously living in the unofficial camp in Calais and their readiness to offer assistance if needed;

— work with the French authorities, in accordance with national and international law, to identify up to 200 unaccompanied minors previously living in the unofficial camp in relation to the protection of unaccompanied children previously living in the unofficial camp in Calais and convey Ireland’s commitment to offer assistance to the French authorities;

— act now to ensure the relocation to Ireland, by 1st May, 2017, of 200 of these unaccompanied children;

— commence a programme of relocation in liaison with Tusla and Irish volunteers and youth care professionals operating in Calais in a structured and timely fashion with the best interests of the children always given primacy; this programme is to compliment, and is additional to, the Irish Refugee Protection Programme;

— work with the French authorities, in accordance with international law and in consultation with youth care professionals formerly working in the camp, to identify those unaccompanied children who would want to come to Ireland;

— make available the necessary resources and expertise to Tusla, all relevant agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) so the vulnerable children can be offered a new start with those families that have offered to provide them with a home or in other appropriate settings; and

— use this pressing need to reaffirm the Government’s overall commitment, on behalf of the people, to a coherent national programme involving the public and private sectors, communities, NGOs and volunteers, that would help to establish Ireland as a society of equality, tolerance and diversity.”

Regina Doherty: “I move amendment No. 1:

“That the following text be added to the motion:

“That Dáil Éireann will work with the French authorities, in accordance with the national and international law, and liaise with volunteers and youth care professionals formerly operating in the camp to identify up to 200 unaccompanied minors previously living in the unofficial camp in Calais who expressed the desire to come and stay in Ireland so that they can be relocated as soon as is practicable.”

Amendment agreed to.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

Transcript via Oireachtas.ie

Previously: For Your Consideration: Voices From Calais

Pic: Ross McCarthy