South Yorkshire Conference tackles child refugee and asylum issues across Europe

Experts from across Europe will gather in Sheffield tomorrow (Friday 10 Feb) day for a one-day conference looking at the needs of young refugees in the UK and further afield.

The one-day conference, jointly organised by The Children’s Society and the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, aims to focus on the needs of young refugees in the UK and share best practice and policy across Europe.

The conference, Meeting the needs of refugee children: Sharing best practice and policy across Europe, follows on from one held in Brussels last year, which aimed to share knowledge, experience and best practice.

As part of that, The Children’s Society facilitated a workshop around the unmet needs of refugee children and the idea to jointly host a European conference developed from that.

The conference, at the Source exhibition centre near Meadowhall, brings together a range of practice and policy professionals from across the EU to share knowledge, skills and experience of best practice and innovation in asylum and immigration issues as they affect young people.

It will look at the difficulties experienced by young refugees, raising awareness and understanding about their situations and the relevance of European immigration and asylum policies and their implications for refugee children in the UK.

It’s hoped that from this conference an informal EU network can develop. This will help further debate and exchange of good practice and policy lessons, which in turn can influence the development of better policies for young refugees, now and in the future (locally, regionally, nationally and at a EU level).

Media enquires: Sam Shaw, The Children’s Society media team. T: 020 7841 4423; or Iain Lovell, Assembly Communication Manager on 01924 331583, email iain.lovell@yhassembly.gov.uk