Unaccompanied Child Refugees

Yet we have the least funds. Though it goes without saying about people in the North doesn't it ?

There was a clip on the news a couple of years ago when we all saw so called child refugees walking along being helped to leave the Calais camp and be taken to UK . The men were so clearly men and not children. Doesn't anyone else remember this? Much later one of those children turned out to be 39.
They are not children, they are mostly young men or
older teens. I think they are mostly young men and then once settled they can send for their families to join them.

I think it's a mixture really. The problem is that there will always be those who exploit a situation to their own advantage. It doesn't matter what we are talking about , whether it's benefit fraud, immigration rules, cheating the tax man, there is always somebody who will bend the rules. I have become more cynical over the years, as I have seen so many people who are prepared to be untruthful . Sad but true!

There are a lot of British born children who cannot find foster parents or adoptees.

We are repeatedly told on various threads here on GN that we have people using food banks, not enough social housing, NHS bed crisis, GPS and Dental Practices not taking on any more patients.

Maybe we should put our own house in order first?

Lois, do you work in the field of refugee settlement? It would be so interesting to hear first hand experience.

JE, have you met any of these " scheming parents" first hand?

EV, if you cant differentiate between 20 and 20,000 that's not great really.Also How do you know Liverpool and the Wirral are welcoming a disproportionate amount of refugees and what skills and talents do you think they will bring with them?

"Welcoming outsiders is not an extra, or simply a charitable idea, it is in our political DNA." That was the message Bishop Andrew gave to Wiltshire councillors debating a motion committing the Council to provide homes for unaccompanied refugee children. Helping refugee children is in our DNA.

Bishop Andrew joined with Bishop Nicholas and other leaders of faith traditions across the county of Wiltshire to support the 'Safe Passage' campaign that encourages each local authority in the country to welcome ten refugee children a year for ten years.

If successful about 10,000 children would be provided with a safe route from war-torn Syria to secure homes in the United Kingdom. The campaign is inspired by Lord Dubs who was one of 10,000 children saved by the Kindertransport trains from Germany eighty years ago.

After the debate and hearing the speakers, councillors voted unanimously to adopt the 'Lord Dubs' scheme.....

...They also called on Wiltshire Council to support the national ‘Our Turn’ campaign by pledging to resettle at least ten vulnerable refugee children in Wiltshire per year for ten years from 2020. The pledges will be wholly dependent on the scheme being fully funded by central government, and councils up and down the country have already pledged 850 places.

Speaking at the meeting, which was also attended by the Revd Dr Rob Thomas, Rector of Trowbridge St James and Keevil Benefice, Bishop Andrew said: "The parish system was the building block of English local government for over a thousand years. While ‘parochial’ has come to mean insularity and narrowness, its original meaning of ‘those beyond our walls’ could not be more in need of recovery. In our time and in our county, we must grow communities that can be small without being narrow; that offer settlement to those who don’t belong."

www.salisbury.anglican.org/news/helping-refugee-children-is-in-our-dna

Elvive, no not in refugee settlement. I can't really tell you about my former employment but I did meet refugees and as I have said , I realised that where there is a chance for exploiting the rules it definitely takes place. I did consider not commenting on this thread but felt I had to point out that sometimes it is possible to be too trusting , naive and swayed by news items etc. We like to be thought of as kind , helpful and moral which can itself cause its own issues.

Loislovesstewie it would be interesting to hear from someone who is involved first hand, without disclosing any confidences of course. As for you Jennifereccles, your acceptance of the poison dripped by the Daily Express and the Daily Mail says a lot. Like every area of society, there will be some who take advantage, some who do not take the advantages offered, it is unfair to classify all of a group as being the same. The shortages in housing, health care, GP appointments are not due to a few migrants, they are due to cuts in government funding and I find it hard to understand why the very people who moan about poor public services/blame the migrants for the shortages are very often the same people who vote for more of it by returning a Tory government.

GillT57 I think you misunderstood my post, I do not blame migrants or refugees for the UKs infrastructure problems.

I just think that if these were addressed first the UK would be in a position to help those in need, which includes taking in orphan children from war torn countries.

I have seen first hand 2 young Syrian teenage boys taken into our friends home, supported through sixth form education, they needed an awful lot of help with their mental and physical health, which they received, both are now at UK Universities.

We must bring 10,000 refugee children to safety

www.facebook.com/HelpRefugeesUK/videos/369746757077634/UzpfSTY4MzI4NzA2NDoxMDE1NzM1MTMwNDgxMjA2NQ/

Watch former child refugee Lord Alf Dubbs pleading for us to give homes to 10,000 children over ten years.

I dare say Lois, that sadly people do take advantage. Without facts and statistics we are reliant on hearsay and those with their own agenda.

I am in favour of helping unaccompanied refugee children (who wouldn't be). However, I do feel we should be able to prove a refugee is a child. If a dental check would do this then I don't see why it shouldn't be carried out. For every adult pretending to be a child a genuine child in need is left behind. Obviously, very small children would not need to be subjected to the check.

One of the Wiltshire campaigners spoke to 94 year old Hella Hewison, a former Kindertransport child refugee who told her:

"I came to this country on Kindertransport aged 14 ½ and if I’d been left in Germany I would certainly have been murdered, like my parents were, by the Nazis. This scheme saved my life and I hope other people will be as kind to children in need today."

The 20,000 figure was given in 2015 by the Government and is for the Syrian Refugees Vulnerable Persons Scheme which is nationwide. You can go onto your local authority’s website and see how many your area has committed to take. One of the rules is that the refugees have to come from one of the official camps. I think that generally it’s families that are in this scheme

You really cant go by how some young people look to "age" them .My just turned 16 year old GS could be at least 5 years older by looks.He's over 6 foot tall and has a beard .Young people from Syria etc tend to look older too because or beards and a more muscular build.
I think morally we OWE these young folk a decent start in life after all its mainly the west who has caused the destruction of their homes countries and lives ....there is a new scheme in Scotland where refugees will be able to work to provide for themselves and their families ,where necessary those in the medical profession will be fast tracked through any additional training they need to work in the NHS .Surely it makes sense if we take them we give them the means to live a better life .

Thank you for all the information on this suziwoozie
Nice to have some real facts regarding numbers!

GG13 I apologise if I misinterpreted your comment and I agree with what you say about getting our own house in order so that we may help others. It is good to hear of young refugees making a success of their new lives, people who will make a valuable contribution to the society which gave them a home. Sadly, many only see the case of the refugee who was fostered and then went on to be radicalised and become the Parson's Green bomber. I fully expect this case to be brought up in this discussion to illustrate the poster's prejudices. Apologies again for misunderstanding.

No, the West has not been the aggressor, it was Assad, helped by the Russians and also rogue Muslim groups.
We so not ‘owe’ anything but it is the decent thing to do to take a share of genuine Syrian refugees.Which we are doing.
It is difficult to ascertain age,and some will always slip through the net.

Absolutely right paddyanne, if we as the west feel entitled to interfere in other countries then we are morally obliged to help those affected by the fallout. One of the saddest things I heard was the UK family trying to legally adopt the young Iraqi lad who had been fostered by them since arriving in the UK. He was educated here, friends, etc., and then the Home Office ( the dept of humanity) decreed that when he was 18 he was to be sent back. Sent back to a country he had little memory of, a country which the West had blown to buggery.

Without having detailed numbers I 'd just like to add that Scotland has taken 4x times the number of refugees that Greater London has (adjusted on per capita basis) and 2years ahead of target set for UK.

2 points
1. we can and do welcome refugees.
2. the SG does have priorities other than independence despite frequent accusations.

All these claims as to which area has taken the most refugees
Are a bit silly, it’s the UK for heavens sake.
Let’s not become tribal about it.

Earlier today a court ruled that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia throughout the war in Yemen have been unlawful.

Since the conflict, which has now claimed the lives of nearly 100,000 people, began the UK Government has permitted the sale of around £4.7 billion worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

I raised the issue of export licenses to Saudi Arabia in the House of Commons earlier this afternoon and urged the UK Government not to appeal the court decision.

this from Stuart Hosie at Westminster today .

'Historic' UK decision outlaws arms sales for Saudi war on Yemen

www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/uk-decision-outlaws-arms-sales-saudi-war-yemen-190620110547372.html

About time!

GillT57 no problem ??

It’s heart over head. Teenagers will not be long in foster care, where then ?

There are teenagers sleeping on the streets now, will refugees be given shelter or once out of foster care on the streets ?