Unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people are highly vulnerable to extra-familial harm and inadequately protected by child protection systems in the UK and many European countries. Delphine Peace is funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation to explore how Contextual Safeguarding can support organisations working with young unaccompanied asylum-seekers in the UK and explore the transferability of this learning to other European settings.
The Seeking Safety study is in collaboration with “Breaking the Chains”, a partnership project developed by Shpresa Programme – a user-led charity and refugee community group supporting Albanian speaking refugees and migrants – and MiCLU, the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit at Islington Law Centre. The Breaking the Chains project supports Albanian asylum-seeking young people in the UK to make asylum-claims and to engage in advocacy work to inform policy, practice and laws affecting their lives.
Young people fleeing violence, abuse and exploitation in Albania have very little chance of securing protection at first instance when seeking asylum in the UK and are extremely vulnerable to harm in their communities. The Seeking Safety study will explore how Contextual Safeguarding approaches can support the Breaking the Chains project to understand and foreground young asylum-seekers' experiences of safety and harm and build safety with and around young people.
Seeking Safety will build on learning from the Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders study (2021-2023), which piloted Contextual Safeguarding with young asylum-seekers in Germany and explored opportunities for Contextual Safeguarding with asylum-seeking and refugee young people in Europe. As part of this previous study, a special interest group was formed with key stakeholders in the UK and across Europe. This group will be expanded to share learning from the pilot in the UK and explore the transferability of this learning to other European settings. The funding will support the project to:
- Explore the opportunities for Contextual Safeguarding within the current UK safeguarding and immigration policy and practice landscape when young unaccompanied asylum-seekers are at risk of, or experience, extra-familial harm
- Partner with the “Breaking the Chains” project to pilot Contextual Safeguarding approaches with young unaccompanied asylum-seekers
- Convene a Special Interest Group to share learning from the pilot and explore its transferability to the UK and other European settings
- Create a new practice toolkit to facilitate the adoption of Contextual Safeguarding approaches to support voluntary organisations working with unaccompanied asylum-seekers
- Disseminate learning and tools generated by the research to policy makers and practitioners
This project is running from September 2024 until March 2027.
For more information, please contact: delphine.peace@durham.ac.uk