Kent County Council says it cannot safely care for any more child migrants amid a rise in the number arriving alone in Kent.
Kent County Council declared it does not have the capacity for additional unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
More than 400 children, most of whom arriving in Dover across the English Channel by small boat, have entered the authority’s care so far this year. More than 4,800 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year alone.
The responsibility lies across England, the council says, while the government says the authority has had extra support.
Under-18s arriving in the county alone are passed into the care of the local authority, with a small number later transferred to other councils that volunteer to help.
County council leader Roger Gough said he warned the Home Office his authority “expected to reach safe capacity to meet its statutory duty of care this weekend”.
He said the new arrival of 13 more children in the past two days had “tipped the balance and the council simply cannot safely accommodate any more new arrivals”.
Bridget Chapman, of Kent Refugee Action Network, an organisation that supports ‘unaccompanied asylum-seeking refugees’ said: “Our main priority is to ensure that vulnerable children are properly cared for and we urge the government to urgently work with Kent County Council to find a way forward,”
The Home Office warned of the ‘unprecedented situation’.
“This is an unprecedented situation and we have been working incredibly closely with Kent County Council to urgently address their concerns,
“We continue to provide Kent County Council with a high level of support, such as significantly increasing funding and reducing pressure on their services through a national transfer scheme.
“We are also providing extra support with children’s services and we continue to work across the local government network on their provision for unaccompanied minors.”
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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