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I met Hassan in Calais last week. He is 17. He was with some Syrian men whom he had only recently met. He told me he had lost his parents in the war and that his grandparents, whom he had been living with, had recently died. He said he wanted to join his cousins in the UK 1/6
Hassan got to the UK in June by crossing the Channel on a small boat. He says that other displaced people in Calais advised him not to tell the authorities he was a child, so he told them he was 18. He was subsequently deported from the UK to Spain earlier this month 2/6
On arrival in Spain, Hassan, along with the other deportees, was offered no accommodation, food or means of claiming asylum. He says he was forced to sleep on the streets of Madrid 3/6 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/syrian-asylum-seekers-homeless-spain-home-office-a9705181.html
Within days, Hassan headed back to Calais, where he is currently sleeping rough. He says he has no money to pay a smuggler to get to the UK. He says he is unwilling to claim asylum in France because he wants to be with his few remaining relatives in UK 4/6 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/channel-crossing-asylum-seekers-migrants-home-office-deport-calais-uk-b421465.html
He may be eligible for transfer under the family reunion process (Dublin III), but there is already a huge backlog and the process can take many months. The route is set to close on 31 Dec due to Brexit, so even if he did apply the process may not be completed in time 5/6
There is now a legitimate concern that, in the state of desperation that he is, with no money and without access to an efficient legal route to join his relatives in the UK, Hassan – alone on the streets of Calais – could fall prey to exploitation 6/6 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-refugees-france-smugglers-relatives-uk-boat-crossing-delays-b452894.html
