Concern over care of refugee children

The Scottish Out-of-School Care Network (SOSCN) has questioned whether the new care standards will apply to all children, including those residing in Scotland as refugees and asylum seekers. A section of the draft standards states, 'Children and young people, workers, parents/carers are treated with respect and in a fair and just manner giving due regard without discrimination to disability, gender, religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.' But the SOSCN points out that refugee and asylum seekers are currently not eligible for pre-school funding.

SOSCN national information officer Shirley Norrie welcomed the draft standards but said, 'It is a sad fact that the children of refugees and asylum seekers have no right to any form of nursery provision while residing in Scotland. Such children then start school without the crucial foundation of the early years about which the Government has been so vocal recently. Will this new care standard really apply to all children without discrimination? We hope so, because at the moment Scotland denies most refugee children basic play and learning activities while, due to the lack of local interpreters, expecting them to interpret for their parents at legal interviews and medical exams.'