PG1. Accessing Information from Abroad

A child for whom significant relevant information may be held abroad includes a child who may:

• Be recently immigrant into the UK, with or without their parents, and for whom there are concerns of harm, including through accusations of spirit possession or witchcraft (see Spiritual, cultural and religious beliefs);
• Have been, or is suspected to have been, trafficked into or out of the UK for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, benefit fraud etc (see Trafficked and Exploited Children Procedure);
• Be at risk of abuse or has already been abused, through, female genital mutilation (see Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Procedure);
• Threatened with forced marriage or at risk of honour based violence (see Forced marriage of a child Procedure and 'Honour' Based Abuse Procedure).

Professionals contributing to a multi-agency assessment (in line with Referral and Assessment Procedure) of a child for whom relevant information is likely to be held abroad, should seek information from their respective counterpart agencies abroad (i.e. health professionals in the UK are responsible for retrieving health information from health professionals abroad, etc).

Principles of good practice for social workers working on child protection cases and care orders, where the child has links to a foreign country are available in Cross-border Child Protection Cases: The 1996 Hague Convention.

Where an assessment is required of family or relatives' circumstances abroad, local authority children's social care should contact an organisation such as Children and Families Across Borders whose details are available at: cfab.org.uk.

Professionals should contact national embassies and consulates in London for the countries concerned. Embassy and consulate details are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, at: www.fco.gov.uk.

Where local agencies abroad cannot assist in divulging information about a child and their family, UK professionals should seek assistance from Children and Families Across Borders.