The issue of asylum seekers is being targeted in a series of BBC reports

There are currently 80 asylum-seeking children in Wales, and more than 2,000 adults.

Cardiff Council alone is looking after 37 children who have come to Wales on their own, or with adults who pretend to be their parents.

Two of the children currently being cared for in Cardiff are under 10 years old, six are between 11 and 15, while the majority are aged 16 to 18.

Another 20 children are being looked after in Newport, and there are 20 others in other parts of Wales.

The majority of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arrive in Wales with agents who have negotiated a price to bring them into the country, posing as their parents.

Solicitor Misha Giry-Slough: Handles cases of child asylum seekers

They are sometimes deposited with distant relatives in the country.

Their real parents - in countries like Somalia, Burundi and Croatia - are often desperate to find their children a better life overseas.

Misha Giry-Slough, a Cardiff solicitor specialising in immigration, says the children have to go through the same asylum appeal process as adults.

She added: "We deal with a wide range of cases with children coming from all places, particularly from war zones where there is a genuine fear of persecution."

If the children are still in the UK when they reach 18, the Home Office would review their case to see if they would be allowed permanent residence.

If their country was regarded as now safe to return to, the Home Office could withdraw any right to remain.

The BBC is focusing on the issue of asylum seekers with a series of reports and interviews over the coming week.