Vulnerable Children in a Hostile Environment: The Legal and Social Impacts of Covid-19 on Young Unaccompanied Asylum-Seekers in England

The proposed research will provide the first in-depth empirical analysis of the legal and welfare effects of Covid-19 on unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the UK (UASCs). It will evidence empirically how UASCs and their legal, welfare and civil society representatives are responding to the delays and disruption in front line services and suggest concrete legal, policy and practice proposals to ensure their rights and welfare are upheld. The project is methodologically innovative in that it will involve co-researching with a team of young UASCs who will facilitate engagement with up to 80 other UASCs. This will be complemented by data from online practitioner surveys and interviews, FoI requests from the Home Office and Local Authorities, and a detailed review of the relevant case law, statutory and policy guidance.