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More on KentOnline
Young migrants seeking asylum in Kent should not be "demonised" by local authorities and communities, a refugee worker says.
Bridget Chapman, of Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN), said she has been left "frustrated" at the angry response to the rising number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged under 18 arriving in the UK in recent weeks.
This comes amid heightened tensions between Kent County Council (KCC), the Home Office and French authorities over an increase in the number of young migrants reaching the Kent coast this year and the costs of housing them.
Ms Chapman said: "I would like people to have more empathy."
The 49-year-old learning and project co-ordinator, who has worked at KRAN for five years, said: "Migrants do not leave their place of origin unless they have got a reason to do so.
"None of the young people I have worked with wanted to leave their homes.
"They were sent here by their families looking to get them somewhere safe and live a better life."
For the last 17 years, thousands of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have received help and support from KRAN, an independent charity with a workforce of just 12 staff.
Some of the migrants will arrive in the county on rubber dinghies while others are forced to hide in refrigerators on lorries to escape from dictators or their war-torn homelands, including Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
KRAN has been told that some middle-eastern families have sold their land or jewellery to ensure safe passage of their child journeying overseas, away from lifetime military conscription or from the clutches of the Taliban.
Ms Chapman said: "We do not ask about them about their journeys because they are often traumatic.
"Some young people spent time in lorries and sitting in fridges thinking they were going to die.
"Some travelled on dinghies with big waves carrying them over and thinking they would drown."
Once they settle onto Kent shores, young migrants are often put helped by the Kent refugee charity. Children are taught how to cook, handle their finances and speak English.
Many take on jobs later in life and some have become entrepreneurs, setting up employment opportunities for others, Ms Chapman added.
The Folkestone refugee worker blamed former UKIP leader Nigel Farage for "whipping up" hatred against young migrants ahead of the Brexit vote in 2016.
She said: "I get a bit frustrated when people describe what is happening now as a crisis when the numbers we are talking about are so small compared to those displaced in the First World War.
"This still continues to be a pressure on us."
"In 1914, 14,000 Belgian refugees arrived in Folkestone in a single day. Only 2,000 young migrants have come to the UK in the last 18 months."
KCC cabinet met earlier today and were told 116 young migrants had reached Kent since June 1, including 12 last weekend, but only 70 KCC asylum seekers had been transferred to other local authorities.
Around £250,000 of tax payers' money is spent each month to provide care for the children while KCC continues to be responsible for 936 care leavers, who are aged between 18 and 25 , county council bosses have recently said.
Cllr Sue Chandler, KCC's children's services cabinet member, told her nine colleagues: "This still continues to be a pressure on us."
Just over 250 asylum-seeking children have arrived since January, with 60 entering the county over the last three weeks, including three this weekend and 65 in May.
KCC's corporate director for education, Matt Dunkley, previously described the situation as an "unprecedented challenge" for the county council.
