SURREY’S cabinet member for children and families has highlighted the challenges facing unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in the county.

The number of children seeking asylum in Surrey has more than doubled in the last five years.

There are currently 140 asylum-seeking minors in the county, which makes up one in six of all children looked after by Surrey County Council.

Speaking to BBC Radio Surrey, Tory councillor Clare Curran outlined the numerous difficulties for asylum-seeking children who arrive in the area without their usual parent or guardian, but said the council is doing everything it can to help.

She said: “When children arrive in Surrey we are absolutely committed to providing care and support for them and helping them to make the most of their lives with us.”

Mrs Curran said local authorities are responsible for numerous services, including special tuition for learning English, legal advice to help with asylum claims and mental health support.

That duty of care continues until the asylum seeker reaches the age of 25.

She added the council expects to spend £4.5million over the financial year to provide services for these children.

The Refugee Council’s head of advocacy Dr Lisa Doyle also appeared on the programme.

“They [unaccompanied minors] can be extremely vulnerable,” she said.

“These children unfortunately will have witnessed things that many of us could never imagine.

"They will have lived through war, their families and themselves will have been under threat and they will have often taken treacherous journeys to safety to reach the UK.”

Dr Doyle said she believed the UK should be doing more to help asylum seekers, describing the situation as ‘the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War.’

According to UN figures, the UK is home to less than one per cent of the world’s refugees, while around 86 per cent of refugees worldwide are hosted by developing countries.

Despite the challenges, Dr Doyle was confident local authorities can help refugees.

She said: “With right support then they can overcome the issues that they’ve experienced and start to lead a normal life again.”

•In November 2016, Waverley Borough Council’s executive committee pledged to provide homes for five refugee families in the borough over five years, as part of the Government’s Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme.

The council confirmed this month that so far it has resettled four of those families.