ABSTRACT
Taking care of and protecting the welfare and rights of children should be the primary concern of all professionals involved in the care of children, including staff working within the UK Border Agency and local authorities. Children's mental health and development should be central to making decisions about their asylum application. The fact that the lives of children who are separated from their families for reasons beyond their control is a reality that needs to be taken into consideration in every step of care and by all services. Responding to those children and young people who fled torture and persecution in search of refuge with policies of forced destitution is, at worst, an extreme violation of basic human rights and, at best, a bureaucratic failure. Looking beyond the brief and passing headlines, a shameful picture emerges of a system bound by racialist and total exclusion from mainstream society and its advantages.
