UNITED KINGDOM
SCOTLAND
in the presence of an appropriate adult, and
written consent must be granted. However, age
assessment practices are not consistent across
the UK, and the quality of age assessments has
been heavily criticised. Although in general the
principle of presumption of minority should
apply, when two migration officers, one of whom
is a senior officer, hold a “reasonable belief” that
an asylum seeker is over 18 years old, the asylum
seeker is treated as an adult and therefore could
be liable to detention.
Migration and asylum procedures for unaccom-
panied and separated children, unlike those for
adults, entitle children to have a representative
present during the asylum interviews. Children
must be interviewed in the presence of an adult
who has no ties to the Home Office. However,
obtaining good quality legal advice and rep-
resentation is a challenge, and the lack of ade-
quate advice, information and legal representa-
tion is a critical obstacle to unaccompanied and
separated children realising their rights 2 .
THE PRACTICE
In 2009, in response to the 2008 concluding
observations from the UN Committee on the
Rights of the Child, the Scottish Government
published “Do the Right Thing”, an action plan
aiming to address the issues raised in the com-
mittee’s recommendations, including providing
better support to unaccompanied children
seeking asylum.
The Scottish Guardianship Service was devel-
oped in 2010 as a three-year pilot project. The
service is run in partnership with the Aberlour
Child Care Trust and the Scottish Refugee
Council with support from the Home Office,
local authorities and other stakeholders. As
of 2013, following an impact evaluation, the
Scottish Government agreed to fund the service
for a minimum of three years 3 . Under the
2015 Human Trafficking and E xploitation Act
(Scotland), all unaccompanied children must
be referred to the service and be appointed a
guardian
The service is located on the premises of the
Scottish Refugee Council in Glasgow and is
implemented by a project leader, four full-time
guardians and one part-time guardian, who are
qualified migration advisers trained in advo-
cacy. Two relief guardians are based in more
remote parts of Scotland.
The service works with unaccompanied
asylum-seeking or trafficked children and
young people. Many of these children have been
through unimaginable traumas and have to cope
with being apart from their families in a strange,
new country. They face language and cultural
barriers and may have difficulty navigating the
welfare and migration system in the UK.
Children referred by local authorities are
assigned a guardian, who helps them to nav-
igate the migration and welfare process and
represent a point of contact and continuity
during their progress through the asylum and
migration system. Guardians make children
and young people aware of their rights, explain
aspects of the asylum and welfare system to
2 _ “Country Report: United Kingdom”, Asylum Information Database, last modified 12 July 2017,
http://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/united-kingdom.
3 _ “The Scottish Guardianship Service”, Scottish Government, last modified 17 August 2017,
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Young-People/protecting/lac/guardianship.
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