Child refugees

Governments always seem to me to be able to fund their own, sometimes, crackpot schemes. Find some to help children who have lost everything, HMG, and make a small contribution to improving the world.

I think you have done an amazing thing grannyactivist. We are quite a distance from any refugee centres but your post prompted me to look up what's happening in this rural area and see what help is needed. Our council has offered to take up to 10 Syrian families which doesn't seem much to me. I got 2 answers wrong in the quiz dj and was quite ignorant about the countries that most are fleeing from, which isn't Syria.

Lazigirl, thank you.

leeds22 I agree with your first sentence wholeheartedly and think that as a country we can do more to care for children currently in the care system. Fostering, adoption and, most especially, mentoring programmes need support from individuals and from the state. I believe that grandparents can be amazing foster carers/mentors and would encourage people to investigate local opportunities.

However, to a child coming into this country as a refugee we can at least offer a place of safety. On this basis alone I truly believe that, however flawed the services we can offer, it is better to do something than to do nothing. At the end of the film Schindler's List we see Schindler regretting that he didn't do more; we can all do something and signing this petition could make all the difference in the world to children who have so little.
www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/schindlers-list/one-more-person

I got that one wrong as well, Lazigirl.
But that wasn't the one which surpised me most.

Surprised. I knew it did not look right, but couldn't work out why.

Okay dj, which question caught you out? I'm intrigued.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sorry, if anyone is doing the quiz SPOILER ALERT ABOVE

I got that one right, Jalima.
Will not say yet, ga, for those that still want to do it.

Thanks for the contribution Grannyactivist
Good to see GN is contributing to putting pressure on the government on this issue. GN must have a lot of members by now - so we are a force to be reckoned with.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-cameron-facing-embarrassing-u-7869993

Fingers crossed.

www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/04/refugee-settlement-programs-save-dying-italian-villages-160421113908416.html

A different way of looking at refugees.

Signed. Though as a related issue, I do wonder who is exploiting the children. Is it the people in the camps alongside the children? If so, are these the kind of people we want in this country? If they are not the exploiters, are they trying in any way to protect the unaccompanied children?

interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2016/uk-slavery-sex-slave-smuggling-investigation/index.html

Do we want them to end up like this, or to come to the UK legally?
I know which I prefer.
It does not matter who is doing the exploitation; what matters is keeping them safe, surely.

Good point Blinko
It does not matter who is doing the exploitation
I think it does; whoever it is needs to be brought to justice.

Blinko - thank you for signing the petition. Your question is a good one and the answer is complex. Vulnerable people, in any situation, become targets for those who would prey on them. There are gangs at work who are traffickers, but I expect there are also individuals in the camps who I'm sure will seek to take advantage of the lack of law and prey on those weaker than themselves. I say this not from any particular knowledge, but simply because, sadly, it's the way of the world.

Exactly, Jalima. Whether it's people in the camps or people in the UK, as in the Aljazeera link, they need to be brought to justice.
However, the children need to be safe first.
We can't ignore that fact while we are deciding who the exploiters are or how they are bringing them here.
If we had decided to take in those children from the camps near Calais, we would possibly not be having this conversation.

"The number of potential child sex slaves identified was 217, 105 of whom are UK citizens, a 64 percent increase from 2014.

The Salvation Army won the government contract to run safe houses for victims of modern-day slavery in 2011. Anne Read, the anti-trafficking director, said 380 victims came into the service in the first year.

But in the past six months alone, they have taken in over 1,000 victims, bringing the total number of those who are referred to the Salvation Army for support to over 4,000."
They say this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Signed and shared

The care system in the UK isn't perfect by a long stretch but its important to remember that many children do better than they may have done if the state hadn't intervened. I won't go on but will say, don't let worries about the imperfect care system put you off signing the petition- these children need our help .

Oh what a lovely bit of news! All those dear little faces, pity the little children. At long last, all we need now is the resources, as that charmer Pickles seems to be suggesting there will be no extra money for LAs.

Just watching the news - Hassan a young refugee - looked so much like my eldest GS imagine how his grandma must feel.

For those who haven't heard - the government has responded to pressure and is to take unaccompanied child refugees who are already in Europe. Thank you for signing the petition everyone.

Not forgetting the foreign secretary said taking refugees in this country would lower our standard of living. Msy was correct about the nasty party

I am really looking forward to seeing this happen. However, history is against it.

www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/374

This was in February.
Excuse my cynicism. I do so hope to be proved wrong.

One point, why was the number so important? Why would Cameron not accept 3000, but changed his mind when there was no number involved?