Place Headline here Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children in Australia Politics, Principles and Pragmatism Lis de Vries National Manager, Migration Support Programs Australian Red Cross

2 100 years of the Red Cross International Tracing Service 20 years of work with asylum seekers

3  Government announced it would move a “significant number of families and the majority of unaccompanied minors out of detention and into the community by June ”.  Setting up out of home care options in partnership with agencies.  The Community Detention (Residence Determination) program. POLITICS

4 Who’s my Guardian?  The 1946 Immigration Guardianship of Children (IGOC) Act establishes unaccompanied children as wards or non- wards How old am I?  The matter of age determination PRINCIPLES

5  Who are the unaccompanied children?  The experience of life in out of home care  The difficult transition into adulthood PRAGMATISM

6 Food security is a problem for all asylum seekers “After paying the rent we have $35 left for two weeks…..we are eating noodles and eggs…normally one sometimes two meals a day. We realise this is not good for us….the body is not getting what it needs.” Living in Limbo "Food is the last problem I have in Australia compared to other problems I face - mainly not knowing the fate of my status here in Australia. When I have bad news I don’t have much of an appetite.” FOOD SECURITY

7  By the end of 2014 Red Cross will be supporting 96 children in out of home care  How we will respond next time? THE FINAL CHAPTER