Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are those under the age of 18 who arrive in the UK to apply for international protection on their own, without the support of an adult.
Many of them are fleeing their homeland because of political or religious persecution, war or famine.
There are 380 UASCs being looked after in Scotland, according to Scottish government figures for 31 July 2025, external.
Highland Council is currently responsible for 72.
The council said it was contacted by local authorities body Cosla in July about a revised Home Office rota allocation formula.
In a report, external, officials said this had presented it with “significant challenges” and five times its previous number of UASCs.
Previously, Highland Council took into its care system one child per cycle, but this has now gone up to five.
There can be a period of two weeks to a number of months between cycle, depending on how many children arrive in the UK.
