Digital Undoc development camp to devise online support for undocumented young people
Over 70 young migrants, migrant sector workers, web developers, designers and innovators will gather at the Paul Hamlyn Foundation offices in King’s Cross this weekend to devise ways of using digital technology to provide services for children and young people with irregular immigration status.
Children and young people with irregular immigration status are highly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, but are often afraid to access support services for fear of detainment and deportation. ‘Digital Undoc’, a scheme working to develop online support for this group, is part of the Supported Options Initiative, a Special Initiative of the PHF Social Justice programme in partnership with Unbound Philanthropy, to support undocumented young people. The programme was developed in response to the PHF report ‘No Right to Dream’ published in 2009, which presents first-hand accounts of the experiences of young undocumented migrants in England. The project aims to find new and creative ways of providing reliable and trusted support.
Participants at the ‘Undoc Camp’ will work together to develop innovative and sustainable product ideas that use web and mobile technologies to help children and young people with irregular status. A panel of judges will choose three winning ideas which will be awarded a total of £10,000 in seed-funding.
It has been reported that there are an estimated 120,000 children living in the UK without regular immigration status. More than half were born in the UK and another large proportion of them have lived in the UK most of their lives. Some were born in the UK to parents with irregular status and have never held a passport or official papers. Others may have lost their papers and so are considered ‘undocumented’.
On Road Media, the organisation commissioned to run the Undoc Camp, works with excluded and misrepresented communities to look for solutions to social problems using the web, technology and the media.