Welcoming young refugees to the East Midlands

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Meet our young refugees

Who are young refugees?

The term ‘young refugee’ includes all children and young people under the age of 18 who are seeking protection in the UK and have been separated from their family or carers on their journey.

You may also hear young refugees referred to as:

  • unaccompanied asylum seeking child or UASC
  • unaccompanied minor
  • separated child
  • migrant child

Our young refugees will have arrived in a new country alone and in need of support and safety. Foster carers and supported lodgings providers can make a huge difference to these young people’s futures by offering warmth, guidance and a place to call home.

Most young refugees in the care of East Midlands are male and over the age of 16.

Find out who can foster a young refugee.

Case studies:

Hear from some of our young refugees about their experiences before travelling to the UK and how things improved after being placed with foster carers.

Some of our foster carers and their families have also shared their amazing stories of how fostering has changed young refugees’ lives, and theirs, for the better.

Meet our young refugees

Sabir’s storySabir arrived in the UK from Afghanistan when he was 14 years old and was placed with foster carers. Hear more about his experience as a young refugee.
Regis’ StoryRegis arrived in the UK from Albania when he was 15 years old. He felt sad and scared. He tells us how his foster family supported him and helped to...
M’s storyM came to the UK when he was 16. He is Kurdish but lived in Syria and talks about some of his experiences.

Meet our foster carers

Saffron’s story: Becoming a foster carerSaffron has been a foster carer for over four years and has looked after several young refugees.
Saffron’s story: Fostering young refugeesSaffron talks about some of the similarities and differences between fostering British children and young refugees.
Saffron’s story: Building a trustSaffron explains how food helped her to build a trust and connect with young refugees in her care.
Pat’s story: Getting into fosteringPat talks about what encouraged her to find out about fostering young refugees.
Pat’s story: Challenges of fosteringPat shares her experiences navigating the language barrier and reveals how having a good sense of humour helps!

In 2018-19 there were 310 young refugees in the care of East Midlands local authorities, rising from 280 in the previous year.