Fifteen-year-old, believed to be from Iraq, discovered near Birmingham after being separated from parents

A boy believed to be a 15-year-old from Iraq has been found alone on a motorway near Birmingham after allegedly entering the UK illegally.

Police officers responding to reports of a pedestrian on the M6 took him into emergency care on Wednesday night and he was subsequently transferred to the care of local social services. West Midlands police contacted the Home Office’s immigration enforcement division shortly after finding him.

Using an interpreter, he told of how he had come to the UK, that he was 15 years old, from Iraq, and did not know where his parents were. It is thought he entered the UK recently.

“He was split up from his parents a few days ago, and doesn’t know which country they’re in,” the central motorway police group said. “It’s impossible to imagine how scared someone would be, not knowing where they are, not knowing where their parents are, unable to speak the language.

“We’ve taken him to a place of safety with food and water until social services can come and take him to care.”

West Midlands police said a driver reported seeing the boy walking on the central reservation towards junction 7, the Great Barr interchange – which is about five miles away from West Bromwich – at 10pm on Wednesday.

“He was picked up by a police patrol car and taken into emergency care for the night,” a spokesperson said. “It’s understood the male is from Iraq and the matter has been passed to immigration.”

Fizza Qureshi, co-chief executive of Migrants’ Rights Network, said she could not imagine how the boy was feeling and called on the government to make it easier for people to seek “refuge and protection” in the UK to prevent deaths of people in transit.

“We are extremely concerned to hear of this story,” she said. “We cannot begin to imagine how he is feeling, in unfamiliar surroundings, alone and without his family, not knowing what might happen next.

“This boy’s journey of being separated from his parents and family, and being alone, would be similar to those of other unaccompanied minors who have come to the UK because no safe routes exist for people to come to the country for refuge and protection. We must create these routes to prevent any further tragedies.”

Liz Clegg, from the Meena Centre in Birmingham, which supports child refugees, told the BBC that reuniting children separated from their parents in such circumstances was a “huge challenge”. She hoped “the system in place would kick in quickly” and that she expected authorities and charities would be working to trace his family.

Lucy Leon, from the Children’s Society, said he now faced a drawn-out and legally complex situation, and urged for him to be provided with an independent guardian to represent his interests.

“We think it is vital he should also be given an independent legal guardian to represent his best interests, ensure his voice is heard, and that he understands the complex immigration process he is about to embark on,” she said.

Only children suspected of being victims of trafficking are given independent legal guardians in England and Wales, but in Scotland and Northern Ireland the “vital support” is given to all unaccompanied refugee and migrant children, she added.

“It’s incredibly important he’s got a guardian, someone who’s independent, not part of the local authority, not part of the Home Office, who can really support him through that complex legal process,” she said. “Quite often we see in our work young people slipping through the net and not being identified as a victim of trafficking and exploitation, or even at risk.”

Iraq was the second most common country of nationality for people applying for asylum in the UK last year. There were 2,700 applicants, 43% of whom were granted protection, according to the Migration Observatory at Oxford University.

The Home Office said the boy’s case would be dealt with according to the immigration rules.

In October, 39 Vietnamese nationals, including 10 teenagers, were found dead in a lorry in Essex, leading the foreign affairs select committee to declare that the UK’s policy of closing borders drives migrants into smugglers’ hands.