Theresa May Mark 2

Clearly Jo Cox made no impression on May whatsoever.

Hopefully her own MPs who wrote that letter to her might soften her heart!

'Labour MP Stella Creasy, who has tabled an amendment to the government’s child welfare bill, aiming to give young refugees in Calais protection under British safeguarding rules, said she was worried by the slowness of the government’s response.

“Time is running out. Unless we step into the breach it will be a disaster. We haven’t got any more time for saying it is complicated. We need a process now. The government can’t just wait it out and hope the problem goes away,” she said.

Yvette Cooper, chair of Labour’s refugee taskforce, has called for Britain and France to take half the unaccompanied children in Calais each. “The foot-dragging and the buck-passing between the French and British governments over the children in Calais is a disgrace. It is quite incredible that there is only a week to go before the camp is cleared but still no plan for the children who are there alone.” '

Or these.

Surely the French should be responsible enough to find these children a place of safety while their situation can be assessed their relatives contacted, and the fact of whether these relatives are prepared to be responsible for the welfare of their children verified?! Can anyone on here really imagine that this situation would be tolerated at Dover if the situation was the other way round?!!!!

Easier to blame the UK though, isn't it? (or more specifically, the UK government)

Yes, I guess you're right, but how on earth can we be solely responsible? Let's face its appallingly badly run, much worse than any in far less affluent countries. Well it's not run by the authorities at all. Perhaps things will be better after its been dismantled, perhaps at least young children will be cared for and assessed in a more ordered way.

The CRS police have been put on alert to go to start clearing the Jungle on. mon 17th - Mon till Thurs are the dates stated for the operation. I also saw a report that the volunteer aid workers have been prevented from entering the camp for the last few days. The volunteers of course wish to feed the people and distribute clothing etc as the colder weather starts to arrive.
As far as I am aware the people will be dispersed to various places throughout France. However it is likely that when all this starts some of the people will disappear and after the camp has been dismantled it may not be long before people return again to the area and build another one. The children are the worry as the last time they cleared out the camp many of them just disappeared - the volunteers do get very worried about them. However some of them are lucky enough to be looked after by other families living in the camp. It is time that these children were fast tracked and enquiries made to ensure that they are going to bone fide families in UK as in some of the cultures they come from many people who are just friends are called 'uncle' or cousin when they are not any form of blood relation at all. Personally I think these children should also be watched over for years by a social worker or someone from a charity such as Barnados or NSPCC to make sure they continue to be treated correctly in UK.

Yes, I think you are right Niggly hopefully that is what will happen now.

Yes, I guess you're right, but how on earth can we be solely responsible? Let's face its appallingly badly run, much worse than any in far less affluent countries. Well it's not run by the authorities at all.

France, as a 1st world country and member of the EU, should hang its head in shame at the lack of help these children have had whilst they linger in this camp.

It is not right to continually pass the buck to the UK, they are on French soil and it is shocking.

Welshwife Personally I think these children should also be watched over for years by a social worker or someone from a charity such as Barnados or NSPCC to make sure they continue to be treated correctly in UK.
Let us hope they are.

In my opinion, France has been negligent in the extreme in not doing anything to help these children. Hollande should be ashamed of himself.

Agreed Jalima and something a lot of us have been saying for ages on the threads about it.

Exactly, Jalima.

My understanding is that about 200 hundred children have been agreed to have the right to emigrate to the UK, because they have family in the UK. The only thing holding up these cases is the inefficiency/relunctance of UK border control. Don't kid yourself. The UK is playing games with childrens' lives.

And the French have no resposibility in these matters, on their own soil?!

The UK is not playing games, that's a daft thing to say.Slower than people would like maybe, but they have to establish honest links between teenagers in Calais and relatives here.

Exactly. The UK has to he 100% certain that these children are going to bona fide family before resettling them, else they risk them being offered homes by so called family members who turn out to be anything but. Frying pans and fire come to mind! Meantime France has failed dismally to protect and care for them.

A month ago there were 380+ children who had the right to come here under the Dubs agreement.

'Fleetingly in May, it appeared that, regardless of political sensitivities around immigration, there was a consensus that something needed to done for the lone child refugees. With Save The Children estimating that there were 85,000 across Europe, politicians acknowledged that Britain had a responsibility to take its share of stranded children.

Originally, the government rejected Dubs’s amendment on the grounds that France, Greece and Italy are safe countries, until Dubs argued that there was a responsibility to share the burden between countries. The then immigration minister, James Brokenshire, acknowledged: “We have a moral duty to help.” Even the Daily Mail launched a campaign to help the children.'

Even James Brokenshire said there was a moral duty to help.
Even the Daily Mail launched a campaign to help.
Some of the comments on here disgust me. No humanity.

www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/08/child-refugees-calais-camp-stranded-britain-ignored-pleas-home-office

Home office ignored French pleas to help.
The first four paragraphs of this link should disgust you.

If I were France, I would move the border to the UK and allow these children through.

'The plea for urgent action on child refugees in Calais also comes as a freedom of information request has revealed that the government spent more than £100,000 earlier this year in legal fees to make it harder to reunite refugees in Calais with their families in Britain.'

Why?

Because they are inhumane

That's our taxes they spent on it as well, whitewave.

Human rights, made by the British.

rightsinfo.org/david-maxwell-fyfe/

'She (Stella Creasey) said that the Home Office was given the paperwork for 117 children in the Calais camp in July and by 2 September had the details of 387 lone children with a legal right to come to Britain.
The Brits helping refugees help Britain
Read more

“Within a few weeks they will be dispersed to the four corners of France if we do not act now. There is no excuse not to process the paperwork before then. Let’s be clear some of these children are only eight years old,” said Creasy.

There are thought to be at least 1,000 unaccompanied minors in Calais, of which possibly as many as 400 have a direct family connection with the UK.

More would qualify under the terms of the Dubs amendment, which was accepted by the British government in March. France and Britain have each blamed each other for failing to register the child refugees properly.'

Shows how much the government has been prevaricating over this.

Amber Rudd said in Parliament today that plans are being put in place, working with the French, to get these children prioritised and moved quickly now, before the camps are cleared.

Just a week then - due to start next Monday.