Children who arrive at airports and claim asylum are usually facilitated on the flight and then told to wait somewhere while the adult(s) do something. They believe the adult will return and take them to whatever has been promised (onward flight to the USA, delivery to a friend/family member/school etc. etc.) They are abandoned without any evidence of their origins or departure point. They don't know the person who travelled with them and probably met that person just before their flight which will not have been directly from their home country. Some children are very young and have been trained to use a false name and conceal their family background. So what happens to them - send them back? To where? Even if origins can be established - send them back? To what? Some countries have absolutely no social services, no-one to receive the child and no-one to trace the family. The work done to re-unite children with families is lengthy, costly and frustrating.

Pip, West Sussex, UK

I see no reason why I should pay higher taxes to pay for this, which would deprive me of money I should be spending on my own children.

tony, birmingham, uk

If this country is intent on keeping these kids in this country then the airline, ferry, rail company or ferry company who allowed their transport to be used to bring these unaccompanied kids here should be forced to foot the bill for their keep, Perhaps they will then look to their responsibilities to do proper checks before allowing unaccompanied kids to travel. Someone must have produced their passports and paid for their tickets. It cant be too difficult to stop this happening. Better still, put the unaccompanied kids straight back onto the transport that they had just arrived on. Why should we, the taxpayer, have to foot the bill for these kids. Their country of origin has some responsibility here as well. The UK has become the soft touch of Europe. Its time we got serious and put a stop to all this

Lynda Plum, London, england

If the Government says these children don't exist, then councils should simply play the same game and say "We cannot provide services for non-existent children."

Stephen, St. Ives, England

I'm afraid I will represent strongly against having to pay for even more foreigners as well as an exceptionally poor service from the council already. If the Government wants foreigners here then it should be paying for them from income taxes. Personally I don't want them in my city and I certainly don't want to have to pay more council tax to keep them. I will reflect this attempt to steal more of my hard earned money in my vote at the next general election. I hope every body else who pays through the nose to keep all and sundry and gets little in return, votes this lot out too.

judy, Liverpool, england