Cuts to councils leave refugee children at risk

Cuts to councils, including Croydon, are putting orphaned and separated refugee children at risk, Steve Reed MP has warned.

Speaking in Parliament, Steve quoted figures which show over 300 unaccompanied child asylum seekers went missing between January and September 2015.

Croydon Council faces a £1.3 million funding gap after Government cuts, branded ‘chaotic’ this week by council leader Tony Newman. The threat of radicalisation and exploitation of missing child refugees will put further pressure on the Home Office to fully meet Croydon Council’s funding gap.

Speaking at Communities and Local Government Questions on Monday 14 December, Steve Reed said:

“At least 340 unaccompanied child asylum seekers disappeared in this country between January and September, which is twice as many as did so in the calendar year before. That leaves them at terrifying risk of abuse, sexual exploitation and radicalisation.

“Councils say that funding cuts mean they do not have the resources properly to protect these incredibly vulnerable children, so why are the Government going ahead with a further cut to the unaccompanied child asylum seeker grant?”