Home Office backs down over travel costs and accommodation arrangements for vulnerable former unaccompanied asylum-seeking orphan child sitting GCSEs

On Tuesday, 10 May 2022, during a High Court hearing, the Home Office backed down over travel costs for a young and vulnerable Eritrean former unaccompanied asylum-seeking orphan child, which she urgently required to travel to her college and sit her GCSE exams next week. Officials also guaranteed her a bedroom to herself so she can study in peace and quiet. The hearing followed a grant of permission on all grounds and a grant of interim relief requiring the Home Office to return the girl to East London, after the Home Office had, without notice, moved her to Hemel Hempstead, ripping her away from her college and support network in Bethnal Green, where she had spent the majority of her time living since her arrival in the UK last year. 

The client was represented by Camila Zapata Besso and instructed by Jamie Bell and Isolde Hill of Duncan Lewis.

More coverage by The Guardian, here.