This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
David Cameron announces concessions on Syrian child refugees
David Cameron announces concessions on child refugees
(about 2 hours later)
David Cameron has given in to calls for the UK to accept unaccompanied refugee children from Greece, Italy and France in a bid to avoid defeat in the House of Commons.
Councils will be contacted next week and told they should be prepared to accept unaccompanied refugee children from Greece, Italy and France, after David Cameron climbed down on the issue in parliament.
The prime minister climbed down in the face of a growing rebellion among Conservative MPs who were preparing to back an amendment by the Labour peer Lord Dubs.
Related: Syrian refugee children deserve the same welcome I was given in 1939 | Alf Dubs
Related: Cameron promises to do more to help child refugees in partial climbdown - Politics live
The prime minister’s U-turn quashed a growing rebellion among Conservative MPs who were prepared to vote against their government in favour of an amendment by a Labour peer, Alf Dubs.
Confirming the U-turn, Cameron paid tribute to Dubs, who came to Britain as a refugee through the Kindertransport and had led the campaign for the UK to take 3,000 unaccompanied children from camps within Europe.
Tory politicians who have been vocal about the issue, including Heidi Allen, David Burrowes and Stephen Phillips, all welcomed the climbdown and were told by ministers that the work would start straight away.
Dubs’s first attempt was voted down by Conservative MPs, but the peer resubmitted the amendment without a specific figure included and this will now be accepted by the government.
Lord Dubs, who came to Britain as a refugee through the Kindertransport, had been leading the campaign for the UK to accept 3,000 children from European camps.
Downing Street could not say how many child refugees would be accepted under the new plans but a spokesman said the government would consult with councils about accepting under-16s who registered as unaccompanied refugees in Europe before 20 March.
His first attempt was voted down by Conservative MPs but the peer resubmitted the amendment without a specific figure attached, which Cameron said he was now willing to accept.
The plan to accept only children already in Europe preserves Cameron’s principle of not creating a “pull factor” that would encourage parents to send their children on perilous journeys with people traffickers.
The prime minister said the government would speed up the process of accepting children with direct family links in the UK and would provide homes for others who arrived in Europe before the deal between the EU and Turkey over handling the refugee crisis.
“No country has done more than Britain to help when it comes to Syrian refugees,” Cameron told MPs.
“No country has done more than Britain to help when it comes to Syrian refugees. But I do want us to proceed with as much support across the house as I can,” Cameron told MPs.
But he added: “I think it is right to stick to the principle that we shouldn’t be encouraging people to make this dangerous journey. I think it is right to stick to the idea that we invest in the refugee camps in the neighbouring countries.”
Related: Child refugees: Cameron retreat avoids Tory revolt and numbers game
Related: Child refugees: Cameron retreat avoids Tory revolt and numbers game
“But I do want us to proceed with as much support across the house as I can. I think it is right to stick to the principle that we shouldn’t be encouraging people to make this dangerous journey. I think it is right to stick to the idea that we invest in the refugee camps in the neighbouring countries.”
The Tory leader was careful not to mention numbers but his immigration minister, James Brokenshire, told potential Tory rebels that councils had given homes to around 3,000 unaccompanied children last year. The Guardian understands that he hinted that they might be asked to resettle thousands more children but Home Office sources said no number had been agreed.
But he said that he was willing to speed up the process of taking child migrants with family links in the UK, and do more for children who arrived in the UK ahead of a deal between the EU and Turkey.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils had a strong record of supporting refugees but said they wanted clarification on the long-term funding arrangements and how children would be dispersed across the country.
“It won’t be necessary to send the Dubs amendment back ... the amendment doesn’t mention a number of people. We are going to go round the local authorities to see what we can do,” said Cameron.
Cllr David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA’s refugees task group, said: “It is vital that the scheme announced today is fully aligned, and funded, alongside this and other existing programmes for resettling refugees, ensuring that councils are able to properly support these vulnerable children while continuing to provide vital services for their local community.”
But he insisted that he wanted the UK to stick to the principle that the priority was to take children from camps in the region from which they were fleeing.
Allen described the climbdown as “brilliant news”. She said the decision to only take children who arrived before the Turkey deal was a “slightly artificial line in the sand” but she understood that ministers wanted to send a clear message to traffickers. “We are not letting anyone wiggle out of any commitments and I have every confidence that the government will honour its commitments,” she added.
He said that “housing them, clothing them, feeding them” was today’s equivalent of the Kindertransport, not taking children from European countries that ought to already to be a safe haven.
Phillips, who spent the day meeting refugee children at camps in Athens with the Labour MP Yvette Cooper, said: “The announcement from number 10 today will give these children hope after all they have suffered.” He had described this as the “greatest migration challenge since the second world war” and had been vocal in his opposition to the government’s reluctance to accept more children.
The intervention was immediately welcomed by the SNP’s Westminster leader, Angus Robertson, while a key Tory MP who was minded to vote with Dubs, Heidi Allen, tweeted her support.
Burrowes added that the details would have to be carefully examined and scrutinised but said it would mean Britain was leading the way.
Dubs also said he was pleased that Cameron was taking steps to “ease the plight of some of the unaccompanied child refugees in Europe”.
Related: Cameron promises to do more to help child refugees in partial climbdown - Politics live
He added: “I trust the prime minister will be true to his word and move swiftly to ensure the Home Office works closely with local authorities to find foster families to give these young people a stable and secure home.”
The move means the government will not face any rebellion over the issue but it is still being pressed over another Lords amendment calling for a ban on pregnant women being held in immigration detention. Conservative MPs want to see their ministers at least concede that detention will only be used as a last resort.
However, Labour said the plan did not go far enough, with a spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn arguing that more than 3,000 child refugees should be welcomed to the UK.
Cooper was also pleased that the decision made in London could have a positive impact on the lives of the children in the Greek UN camp. “There are 35 unaccompanied children here who have no proper shelter and are at risk. The ones who are most at risk aren’t even in the camps or the shelters. There are so many children who are not in proper school or in proper accommodation,” she said.
Refugee and children’s rights groups were scrambling to clarify whether Cameron’s announcement referred to the speeding up of existing and legally binding processes to allow family reunification or whether it would lead to additional children being allowed into Britain from Europe.
A spokeswoman for Save the Children said that it expected further details from the government soon. She added: “We have spoken to various levels of government and various departments about the extreme risks that these children face – and where the UK can best intervene. This includes how the relocation of the most vulnerable children – which Save the Children has long called for – would work in practice.”
Save the Children’s chief executive, Tanya Steele, said the charity welcomed “today’s significant announcement that the UK will offer them sanctuary and the chance to build a new life here”.
Save the Children’s chief executive, Tanya Steele, said the charity welcomed “today’s significant announcement that the UK will offer them sanctuary and the chance to build a new life here”.
She said: “Refugee children, many of whom have fled war and persecution and have made dangerous journeys to Europe alone are now living on the streets, in overcrowded camps or locked in police detention.
“Refugee children, many of whom have fled war and persecution, and have made dangerous journeys to Europe alone are now living on the streets, in overcrowded camps or locked in police detention,” she said.
“The prime minister has today offered a lifeline to these vulnerable children and we will work with the government and the UN to ensure that these commitments are rapidly implemented so that thousands of lone, vulnerable children can reach safety in the UK in the coming months.”
The first attempt to get Britain to take 3,000 child refugees from the EU was blocked in a Commons vote last Monday by a majority of 18. But a group of up to 30 Conservative MPs said they were ready to back the reworded amendment to the immigration bill next week.
Following the announcement, the prime minister’s office released further details of its plan. In a statement, it said that children who were registered in Greece, Italy and France before 20 March would be eligible for resettlement.
It did not put a fixed number on arrivals, but said it would work with local authorities to determine how many children would be resettled. It also reiterated previous commitments to speed up family reunification.
The retrospective nature of the scheme would avoid creation of what it described as a “perverse incentive for families to entrust their children to people traffickers”, it said.
Some refugee organisations expressed scepticism about the impact of Cameron’s plan on asylum-seeking refugees. Dr Lisa Doyle, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said: “Today’s announcement could potentially offer limited chances for some lone children to find safe haven in Britain.
“However, we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking the government has suddenly discovered its conscience while it’s simultaneously vilifying asylum seekers who are already in the UK and doing its best to trap all other refugees in poor countries.”
George Gabriel from Citizens UK, a charity that has helped identify and reunite lone child refugees from Calais with their families in the UK, said it was not the first time Cameron had promised to speed up reunions.
He said: “We have been working with lawyers to oblige the government to live up to their legal responsibilities to unaccompanied minors in Europe with relatives in the UK since last year, and so far only 24 children have been admitted.
“The process is taking too long – some children face waiting up to a year to be reunited with family members. We look forward to hearing the details of how the government will make today’s promise a reality.”
