Hackney pledges to support needs of migrant children on International Migrants Day
A charity that works to protect the rights of migrant children visited Hackney Town Hall today to celebrate the Council’s adoption of their Children’s Charter.
Children’s charity Project 17 joined Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville, Cabinet Member for Education, Young People and Children’s Social Care, Deputy Mayor Bramble, Cabinet Member for Families & Early Years, Cllr Kennedy and Cabinet Member with responsibility for Refugees and Vulnerable Migrants, Cllr Caroline Selman, to witness the signing of their Charter.
Through signing up to the Charter, the Council has pledged to protect the rights of children living in families that are unable to access traditional welfare support due to their immigration status.
Now more than ever, we are proud of our long standing reputation of being an inclusive and supportive borough for migrants and refugees. We’re currently supporting over 100 children and young adults that came to this country as unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and we’ve recently welcomed Lord Dubs’ Safe Passage Campaign, which calls on central government to allow 10,000 refugee children a safe passage to the UK.
We believe that all children should be treated equally and fairly, and offered sensitivity in order to ensure that they have what they need. That’s why we have pledged to support Project 17’s Children’s Charter, which shows our commitment to supporting the needs of children who live in families that are unable to access traditional welfare support due to their parents’ immigration status. We look forward to working with Project 17 to implement their Charter into our approach.
The Council will uphold a range of actions in line with the Charter, including ensuring accommodation suits children’s needs, supporting children to live with their families where possible, placing children’s interests at the heart of decision-making, treating all children equally, sensitively, supportively and fairly, and providing disabled children with the support they need.
We are very pleased that Hackney Council are committing to uphold the rights of children in families with 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF), especially at a time when resistance to the government's "hostile environment" is so urgent. There has been significant positive change in Hackney's approach to families with NRPF over the last few years, which we hope the Council will continue to build upon.