‘We’re not doing enough for child migrants’ Lord Dubs blasts Government crackdown
THE Government has broken its promise to provide sanctuary to unaccompanied child migrants following the Jungle camp’s destruction, labour peer Lord Dubs, a former child refugee, has said.
Lord Dubs has criticised the Government for its crackdown on child migrants from Calais
Lord Dubs, who came to the UK on the Kindertransport programme for Jewish children before the outbreak of the Second World War, said newly imposed “restrictive” eligibility criteria would further complicate – if not halt – the transfer of child migrants who qualify for relocation under the Dublin Regulation.
British officials are searching for loopholes to escape their obligations
The regulation states that all refugees must make an initial asylum claim in the first country they reach, but can apply for asylum in another country in other circumstances, for instance in countries where they have family members, which it’s claimed is the case of more than 1,000 Jungle minors.
But, under the new Home office guidelines announced on Monday, child migrants must now meet the following ‘basic’ requirements before being granted sanctuary in the UK: they must be aged 12 or less and face a high risk of sexual abuse, be Syrian or Sudanese and aged 15 or less, or be aged 18 or less and have a younger sibling who meets the aforementioned criteria.
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Lord Dubs said the new criteria would restrict if not halt the transfer of children
Lord Dubs expressed deep concern over the controversial guidelines: “British officials are searching for loopholes to escape their obligations and only want to take in a handful of child refugees.”
In the wake of the Jungle camp’s demolition, Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, announced that his British counterpart, Amber Rudd, had pledged to take in “all isolated child migrants with proven family links in Britain”.
Bernard Cazeneuve said Amber Rudd had pledged to take in children with 'proven family links'
Mr Cazeneuve added that Miss Rudd would consider providing sanctuary to “unaccompanied UK-bound child refugees without family in the UK”.
The Government has broken its promise to shelter child migrants after Calais' destruction
France has since called on the UK to fulfil its responsibilities towards Calais’s unaccompanied child migrants.
“All children who have close family in the UK will be considered for transfer and those who do not have family ties will be assessed according to the new guidelines,” a Home Office spokesman said in response to the outrage.