No home, no country and no future: The 600 stateless children living rough on London's streets

 
Homeless London
Rex Features
Nick Hodgson5 November 2012
WEST END FINAL

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Hundreds of children sleeping rough in London are at risk of being driven into crime and prostitution because officially they do not exist.

New figures show at least 600 children in the capital are stateless — without a passport or official documentation linking them to their country of residence — and campaigners fear that number is rising.

Many of London’s stateless youths came to the UK legally but were never officially registered, meaning they cannot access education or apply for social housing. For teenagers like 17-year-old Ugandan-born Tony, attempting to become a legal citizen retrospectively can be virtually impossible.

Tony was kicked out of his home by his father when he was 14. He tried to apply for UK citizenship, but was told he needed a letter from his father to prove he was who he said he was.

“How can I get a letter from my dad if he kicked me out?” Tony told a BBC Inside Out investigation. One 17-year-old girl, who was smuggled out of Libya in 2009, said she had turned to prostitution after being abandoned by her guardian.

Councils have a legal duty to provide children with support and accommodation, regardless of immigration status. But campaigners claim some councils try to assess children as older than they are to avoid responsibility.

Charities say statelessness is a UK-wide problem. Jennifer Blake of youth charity Safe ‘n’ Sound said: “Some of the case studies we have are where young girls become prostitutes or they go into really abusive relationships. When you’ve got young boys they end up going in gangs or becoming perpetrators. They will kill or steal just to survive. It is a big issue.”

BBC Inside Out is on BBC 1 tonight at 7.30pm.

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