It is hoped that expertise could be shared between the countries on how to keep lone young people safe and ensure they receive the appropriate care, the LGA said.
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Councilors from the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents most local authorities in England and Wales, will visit the Calais camp on Thursday to meet with the city’s mayor, Natacha Bouchart.
The LGA does not have the power to bring child asylum seekers to the United Kingdom, and instead must meet the care demands placed on them by legal and policy decisions made at a national level.
“We must avoid creating distinctions between unaccompanied children within Europe and the children who have made it to the United Kingdom on their own – especially when so many have undergone similar experiences”.
The number of lone children claiming asylum and coming into the care of councils after their arrival in the United Kingdom stands at over 4,000.
Poor treatment has led child asylum seekers to lose faith in national authorities and driven many into the hands of people smugglers and traffickers, the report said.
Concerns have been raised about the plight of unaccompanied minors in recent months, with official estimates suggesting that up to 10,000 under-18s are missing in Europe.
The Home Office won an appeal in early August against a landmark ruling that allowed three unaccompanied children to join family members in the UK.
After visiting the Jungle, councillors said they would support stationing officials from local authorities in Calais to help register and process unaccompanied minors now trapped in the squalid camp.
“If children do come to the United Kingdom, councils want to get it right so that children who have experienced horrendous conditions within and since fleeing their country of origin are able to settle into United Kingdom life as quickly and easily as possible with ongoing support made available when they need it”, he added.
“Local authorities, including Hammersmith and Fulham, must be willing to offer support to all unaccompanied children in need regardless of how they arrive in the United Kingdom”, she said.
Municipalities are responsible in the United Kingdom for the costs of caring for unaccompanied children.
The LGA pointed to the burden placed on them by national government.
The committee found that despite a target to take in 20,000 refugees by 2020, just 71 local authorities have so far accepted any refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.
Cllr David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA’s asylum, refugee and migration task group, added that it is “imperative” children are kept safe wherever they now are across Europe.
‘If children do come to the United Kingdom, councils want to get it right so that children who have experienced horrendous conditions within and since fleeing their country of origin are able to settle into United Kingdom life as quickly and easily as possible with ongoing support made available when they need it’.
He added that a further 40 children who were allowed to leave the camp in Calais join their family in Britain, “all needed a legal challenge by United Kingdom citizens or charities against their own government”.
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Ahead of the visit, they have come together in a statement to call for greater co-ordination around this growing issue, particularly to ensure the many public offers to foster or support refugee children are directed to their local authorities.
