In the latest story on legal aid reforms affecting immigration, the Children's Society has warned that planned residency tests will mean abandoned migrant and trafficked children will be left destitute.
The Guardian reported on June 1st that in order to qualify for legal aid, the planned residency test requires people to have lived lawfully and continuously in the UK for at least 12 months at some stage in their life.
The Children's Society warns that this will mean migrant children abandoned by their carers would be denied legal assistance, as would victims of trafficking whose ages are disputed. In addition, the Guardian notes that the charity says children granted refugee status will have to wait a further 12 months before they can access legal aid.
The above scenarios all risk children being made destitute, the charity warns.
"Many children who have been abandoned, trafficked into sexual exploitation or forced labour … will be left without a voice and right of redress. They will be prevented from challenging decisions and denied their basic rights to help and protection," Matthew Reed, the Children's Society chief executive, told the Guardian.
The vast majority of the 1,500 refugee and migrant children seen in a year by the Children's Society require legal aid.