Child asylum seekers cost Croydon £34m a year

9:25am Wednesday 22nd October 2008

By Kirsty Whalley

Croydon has 1,042 children in care, the highest in London. Of these 678 are unaccompanied asylum seekers.

The council says that it costs an average of £972 a week to look after an individual, compared with £866 a week for other London boroughs.

The council says the money from the Home Office and this grant covers the direct costs of supporting a child in care.

However, Steve Liddicott from the council’s department for children, young people and learners, said that it is the indirect costs such as education, housing and health which take a toll on council resources, although he admitted there was no way to estimate how much this was costing the borough.

In addition, because there is such a high demand for foster services in Croydon, many asylum seeking children are placed in private foster homes.

Mr Liddicott said this is one of the reasons that the cost of looking after children in care is more in Croydon than it is in other outer London boroughs.

A large majority of the unaccompanied children who claim asylum in Britain do so through Lunar House in Croydon. They are then referred to Croydon Council.

Croydon has an agreement with other London boroughs who share responsibility for children claiming asylum aged 16 to 17. Children under 16 are looked after by Croydon Council and, unless there is an adult willing to care for them, they are placed in foster care in and around Croydon.

One teenager who has been through the system is 17-year-old Muhammad Arabzad. He arrived in Britain from Afghanistan when he was just 14.

His family paid an agent to take him to safety after his life was threatened by a political opposition group. It can cost up to £8,000 to get smuggled into the UK.

Muhammad said: “I travelled for two months by road to get here. When I arrived I was scared and alone. I eventually bumped into an Afghan man who took me to the Home Office in Croydon.”

He goes to school in Croydon and has become involved with a local karate group. He has been in England for almost four years and has no idea if his parents are alive and well. They, in turn, have no idea if their son arrived safely in the UK.

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