§ Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child refugees under the age of 17 years have been admitted to the United Kingdom during each of the past 12 months; if he will provide a table showing their country or origin; and what financial support the Home Offfice provides for the care and resettlement of child refugees in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Peter LloydI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the United Kingdom who are granted temporary admission pending consideration of their application. The available information is on those cases who were unaccompanied at the point of their arrival, and is given in the table.
In addition to providing grants to certain voluntary organisations to assist with refugee resettlement, the Home Office makes a grant—about £600,000 in 1991—to the refugees arrivals project which provides emergency assistance to newly arrived destitute asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors. I understand that under the Children Act 1989 local authorities are responsible for arranging the care of unaccompanied child refugees or asylum seekers.