Destitute refugee children in Scotland a growing concern

Analysis of the destitution grants awarded by RST over the 9 months from April to December 2016 show that the number of children we are supporting continues to increase.

20% of the grant applications over this period included children – 125 cases, supporting a total of 307 children. Of these, 43 of the children were homeless at the time of application.

This is a significant increase from 2015-2016, when we supported a total of 223 children across the whole year.

Co-ordinator Zoe Holliday says “It is unacceptable that any child, regardless of their country of origin or immigration status, should be destitute or homeless in Scotland.

“RST Destitution Grants provide short-term finance to refugees and immigrants who have nowhere else to turn for support. The fact that 20% of our applications now include children is deeply concerning.”

Download our summary of RST Destitution Grants April – Dec 16

Comments are closed.