'Urgent' clarity needed on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Scotland

Young Ukrainian refugees. Image: Shutterstock.

MSPs sitting on a Holyrood committee say they have heard ‘conflicting evidence’ on the true number of asylum seeking children staying in hotels

MSPs are demanding clarity on the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children being placed in hotels in Scotland.

Those sitting on Holyrood’s equalities, human rights and civil justice committee say ministers need to clarify this “as a matter of urgency” after they heard “conflicting evidence” on this issue.

Local councils told the committee “there are no unaccompanied children living in hotels in Scotland” - but this is the complete opposite of what the charity JustRight Scotland told them.

Kaukab Stewart, SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin. Image: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament.

The committee now says it is concerned the practice of housing asylum seekers in hotels is “becoming normalised”, and is being used for “longer periods of time” - this is a particular concern when it comes to unaccompanied children, who are at greater risk.

Kaukab Stewart MSP, convener of the human rights committee, says it is concerning the numbers in Scotland are not clear.

Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland, Ms Stewart said: “It is difficult for the committee to get to the bottom of this, which is why we are urging the Scottish Government to find out exactly how many unaccompanied children there are in Scotland.

“It is quite concerning.

“With unaccompanied children there is a higher risk and we need to make sure they are being taken care of.”

Ms Stewart said asylum seekers who are staying in hotels have told MSPs the rooms are “inappropriate, inadequate, and sometimes substandard”, and often are not heated properly or are damp.

She also said asylum seekers have found it difficult to make complaints about their accommodation, and if they have the complaints are then not dealt with properly.

Ms Stewart added: “That is having an impact on their physical and mental health.

“Hotel accommodation was never designed for long-term use, but because of the backlogs in processing asylum seeker applications, some are staying in them for years.”

Both immigration and asylum are matters reserved to Westminster, but Ms Stewart says the Scottish Government does have some devolved powers to be able to support asylum seekers, such as offering the discretionary bus travel scheme to them.