Foster carers need help to spot extremism among young asylum seekers, says charity

A LEADING adoption charity is urging the Government to train foster carers to spot the signs of radicalisation among young asylum seekers who are living in their homes.

John Simmonds, from CoramBAAF, which represents foster carers and adopters, is writing to the Department for Education calling for a review of whether enough is being done to help those on the front line caring for children from countries where Isil-inspired extremism has been prevalent.

While local authorities are required to ensure key staff undergo Prevent training, the Government’s counterterrorism course, it is feared that foster carers are often ignored because it could undermine the “parent-child” relationship. However, the Parsons Green Underground bombing, which culminated in the arrest and charge of an Iraqi teenage living in foster care, has raised questions about whether foster carers are getting enough help to identify those being inspired by Isil propaganda.

“All foster carers should be trained in what they need to do to meet the needs of the children in their care.

“There are well known issues with unaccompanied asylum seeker children who may have had an extraordinarily traumatic journey from their home country,” Mr Simmonds said.

“I think the issue around training should be explored by the sector as a matter of urgency.”

Home Office statistics show 11 per cent of all asylum applications are from children aged under 18 who arrive here alone. The vast majority are placed in foster care until adulthood. In the year up until June 2017, there were 2,944 asylum applications from unaccompanied children.

The Arab Spring uprisings in countries like Syria and Libya sparked a rise in the number of young asylum seekers coming to the UK.

There were 1,376 applications for asylum from Syrian nationals in 2016, a marked increase compared with the 125 who applied in the year ending March 2011 before the impact of the Syrian civil war was felt.

Surrey County Council had placed Ahmed Hassan, the 18-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker charged with planting a bomb on a District Line train, with foster carers Penny and Ronald Jones at their Sunbury-on-Thames two years ago when he arrived in the UK unaccompanied.