originally published by: The Guardian
14th June 2010

A drastic increase in the number of unaccompanied minors trying to enter Europe is exposing thousands of children to severe dangers and human rights abuses, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR warned today.

Following UK government plans to set up a £4m “reintegration centre” in Afghanistan so that it can deport unaccompanied child asylum seekers to Kabul from Britain, the UNHCR warned that the measures may force children to go underground, putting them in further danger as they try to avoid the authorities.

According to the report many children consider returning to their home country both a personal failure and “a betrayal of the trust and money that their families have invested in them”.

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originally published by: BBC News
16th February 2010

The Scottish Refugee Council says that 25 years since it was set up, the situation for asylum seekers and refugees is worse than ever. BBC Scotland’s social affairs reporter Fiona Walker looks at how attitudes have changed.

Peri Ibrahim shows me the cameras he used to document his life before he fled here. When he looks through the lens it transports him back to times of conflict.

“Every time I look through, I see the dead body,” he said. “Stupid camera.” Peri has lived in Scotland for 25 years – the same amount of time the Scottish Refugee Council has been in existence.

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