Dawn O’Porter: This is my Christmas wish

Many families will be reunited this holiday season following years of pandemic disruption. But not all, writes Dawn O’Porter

Is there anything as joyous as a child at Christmas? (PA Wire)

Is there anything as joyous as a child at Christmas? Indulgences exciting their little minds and tummies as their imaginations build them up to a day of gifts, good food, funny movies and family all around them. It’s a sight familiar across the world.

Unless those children are refugees and separated from their families. These children won’t be treated to anything this Christmas. They will barely be treated as human.

Instead, they will be detained in jail-like facilities, denied adequate healthcare and education, and deprived of safe routes to be reunited with their families. And according to Human Rights Watch, they will often be abused by police, guards, and other detainees.

The world has more than 150,000 unaccompanied minors, a number that’s growing rapidly. Some are separated from their families while fleeing war. Others are victims of human trafficking and smuggling, including those who are sold by their own parents. Many are living with the trauma of seeing the unimaginable, with some even seeing their siblings and parents killed.

These kids deserve the joy and love that Christmas represents, as much as any other child. Yet thousands in foreign lands can find themselves trapped in their status as migrants, with little consideration afforded to their vulnerabilities and needs as children. According to Unicef, more than 100 countries detain children for migration-related reasons. It’s bleak and frightening. There is no good cheer thrown in for the holidays.

In the UK, children without parents are found loving homes with foster carers or put in children’s homes that are registered and inspected by Ofsted. Their safety is the upmost priority. But not if that child is a refugee. In that case, the Home Office rounds them up and puts them in hotels, where their needs are often ignored rather than met. There is nothing safe about it.

This catastrophic failure in our duty of care has seen 220 vulnerable children go missing, while others have been allowed to stay with adults who have not been subject to criminal record checks. Authorities have ignored their own statutory guidance, which says this sort of accommodation isn’t suitable for vulnerable children even in an emergency. These children are being placed in a potentially dangerous environment, and get little support to help them through it.

As if that wasn’t enough, until recently, the UK government put some of these children into the worst jail in Britain: the Manston processing centre. There are reports of kids sleeping on food boxes in tents, in conditions of serious overcrowding and unrest, amid outbreaks of diseases that have since been linked to deaths. It’s horrifying. If you can’t even recognise a child’s vulnerability, where has your humanity gone?

Across the world, we need to end the detention of unaccompanied minors – making exceptions only for criminal activity – and establish truly child-sensitive asylum policies. These children are left to fend for themselves, with few resources and often no emotional support.

Both the UNHCR and Unicef call for all people under the age of 18 to be recognised as children in the eyes of the state – regardless of their immigration status – so that they are afforded the same legal protections and care. They recommend that assessments of child refugees are always done by a decision-maker specialising in child protection, not by immigration authorities. These are children, not just numbers. They deserve care and sympathetic attention.

Many families will be reunited this holiday season following years of pandemic disruption. But governments will force child refugees to spend it without their loved ones, punishing them simply because of where they are from.

This Christmas, we can all do our part for these separated children. Choose Love, for example, has opened a store for people to buy things for refugees directly off the shelf. Items such as a blanket, a coat, a can of soup – all for those who truly need help. This includes legal services to help reunite parents with their children, and providing safe shelter for unaccompanied minors. A vital and necessary care package designed to keep them safe.

We can’t offer these children the care of a family this Christmas, but we can call for governments to recognise their responsibilities and provide the specialised support they need. For the vulnerabilities, needs and dreams of unaccompanied children are no different from those of our own.