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| QPR gives fleet of coaches to bring child refugees from Calais | QPR gives fleet of coaches to bring child refugees from Calais |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Queens Park Rangers football club has offered to help bring refugee children stranded in France to the UK. | Queens Park Rangers football club has offered to help bring refugee children stranded in France to the UK. |
| The Championship club is part of a new plan for more than a thousand refugee children that emerged on Monday night. | The Championship club is part of a new plan for more than a thousand refugee children that emerged on Monday night. |
| Before any child can come to the UK they must be assessed to ensure they are eligible for sanctuary here. Many children have not yet been assessed so it is not known exactly how many will ultimately come to the UK to either be reunited with family members or cared for by local authorities. | |
| QPR has put a fleet of coaches on standby to go to France to collect the children. And Hammersmith & Fulham council – QPR’s local council in west London – says it has volunteer social workers ready to travel to France in the next couple of days to assess and support the children. | QPR has put a fleet of coaches on standby to go to France to collect the children. And Hammersmith & Fulham council – QPR’s local council in west London – says it has volunteer social workers ready to travel to France in the next couple of days to assess and support the children. |
| Lord Alf Dubs, who has led plans to bring child refugees to the UK in a Kindertransport-style mercy mission, announced the plan in a letter to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, and the French ambassador, Sylvie Bermann, on Monday. | Lord Alf Dubs, who has led plans to bring child refugees to the UK in a Kindertransport-style mercy mission, announced the plan in a letter to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, and the French ambassador, Sylvie Bermann, on Monday. |
| In his letter, Dubs writes: “I formally request that the French government allows us to send in coaches and social workers to collect those refugee children that have a right to be here in the UK. We will need assistance with travel documents out of France. We have people arranging the coordination of this.” | In his letter, Dubs writes: “I formally request that the French government allows us to send in coaches and social workers to collect those refugee children that have a right to be here in the UK. We will need assistance with travel documents out of France. We have people arranging the coordination of this.” |
| Dubs added: “I am also writing the British government and hope that this intervention can bring the assistance the refugee children so desperately need. Given the urgency of this matter I should be grateful for a quick response.” | Dubs added: “I am also writing the British government and hope that this intervention can bring the assistance the refugee children so desperately need. Given the urgency of this matter I should be grateful for a quick response.” |
| The home secretary made a statement to parliament saying that the UK government had only been granted access to the camp by the French authorities and permitted to bring over Dubs-amendment children very recently. They are children with no relatives in the UK but who are deemed eligible to travel to the UK as a result of their vulnerability. | The home secretary made a statement to parliament saying that the UK government had only been granted access to the camp by the French authorities and permitted to bring over Dubs-amendment children very recently. They are children with no relatives in the UK but who are deemed eligible to travel to the UK as a result of their vulnerability. |
| This new rescue mission has emerged amid growing concern for the welfare of those still in France. It is not clear whether some of the children have already been moved out of Calais to other parts of France. | This new rescue mission has emerged amid growing concern for the welfare of those still in France. It is not clear whether some of the children have already been moved out of Calais to other parts of France. |
| The children have been housed in containers on the site of the former refugee camp. Each container has 12 beds but there are reports of 20 children in each container with some sleeping on tables and on the floor with concerns raised about shortages of food and water. | The children have been housed in containers on the site of the former refugee camp. Each container has 12 beds but there are reports of 20 children in each container with some sleeping on tables and on the floor with concerns raised about shortages of food and water. |
| Efforts to bring some of the children to the UK stalled on Saturday after the French authorities reportedly asked the British authorities to suspend their work in the Calais camp for several days. | Efforts to bring some of the children to the UK stalled on Saturday after the French authorities reportedly asked the British authorities to suspend their work in the Calais camp for several days. |
| A French embassy source told the Guardian: “Negotiations are still under way with the British government in terms of how the children’s applications are processed. We don’t know if they will stay in Calais or be sent to other centres in France.” | A French embassy source told the Guardian: “Negotiations are still under way with the British government in terms of how the children’s applications are processed. We don’t know if they will stay in Calais or be sent to other centres in France.” |
| Councillor Steve Cowan, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham council, has been working closely with Dubs on plans to rescue the children. | Councillor Steve Cowan, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham council, has been working closely with Dubs on plans to rescue the children. |
| He said: “The situation for the children in France is chaotic, violent and dangerous. So many people have come up to me and said: ‘How can we leave children in these conditions in 2016?’ | He said: “The situation for the children in France is chaotic, violent and dangerous. So many people have come up to me and said: ‘How can we leave children in these conditions in 2016?’ |
| “We have social workers on standby ready to go to France as soon as the French authorities give us permission to go in and collect the children, and generous benefactors such as QPR who are providing us with a fleet of coaches to collect the children. | “We have social workers on standby ready to go to France as soon as the French authorities give us permission to go in and collect the children, and generous benefactors such as QPR who are providing us with a fleet of coaches to collect the children. |
| “Lord Dubs has shown the necessary leadership here, first by getting the amendment passed in parliament allowing these vulnerable children to be brought to the UK and now by writing to the French government asking them to let us go to France to collect these children and bring them back here. | “Lord Dubs has shown the necessary leadership here, first by getting the amendment passed in parliament allowing these vulnerable children to be brought to the UK and now by writing to the French government asking them to let us go to France to collect these children and bring them back here. |
| “I have no doubt that the Home Office will say yes to Lord Dubs’ proposal this evening given the home secretary’s commitment made in parliament last week.” | “I have no doubt that the Home Office will say yes to Lord Dubs’ proposal this evening given the home secretary’s commitment made in parliament last week.” |
| Alex Fraser, director of refugee support at the British Red Cross, said: “Following the operation to clear the Calais camp, it is imperative the process of assessing and transferring children to the UK proceeds without delay. | Alex Fraser, director of refugee support at the British Red Cross, said: “Following the operation to clear the Calais camp, it is imperative the process of assessing and transferring children to the UK proceeds without delay. |
| “The job is not finished if children eligible to be in the UK remain in containers amid what is left of the ‘jungle’. It’s still no place for children. Our message is clear: these children are welcome in the UK and they should be brought here as soon as possible.” | “The job is not finished if children eligible to be in the UK remain in containers amid what is left of the ‘jungle’. It’s still no place for children. Our message is clear: these children are welcome in the UK and they should be brought here as soon as possible.” |