SCOTTISH councils have been issued with an urgent call to help rehouse child refugees in Calais, some of whom are being left to sleep rough and vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and trafficking.
The call, made by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), comes a week after the first children arrived in the UK under the so-called Dubs amendment. The ruling is named after former child refugee Lord Alf Dubs, who secured a promise in Parliament earlier this year to bring unaccompanied children from France, Greece and Italy to the UK “as soon as possible” if it is in their best interests.
Since the Jungle Camp in Calais – where lone children as young as eight had been living in squalid conditions – was cleared last week, at least 1,500 lone children have been staying at a container camp nearby.
Many were unable to register including up to 100 children, claim charity Help Refugees UK. with scores forced to sleep rough. Up to 500 in Calais may be legally entitled to come to the UK.
It is understood that several local authorities, including Glasgow City Council, are willing to take unaccompanied children but are currently working on legislative issues, which means they cannot legally be transferred to Scotland. Other problems include the lack of adequate UK Government funding to ensure councils can provide accommodation and the support services young refugees will need.
A COSLA spokesman said: “Given the gravity of the situation in Calais, COSLA has put out a call to all Scottish local authorities to consider their ability to respond urgently to the clearance of the refugee camps in Calais by offering a place of safety to some of these young people being brought to the UK under the so called ‘Dubs amendment’.
“Scotland’s councils are committed to exploring how they can take forward the resettlement of unaccompanied young people because they believe it is the right thing to do, and following the success of the Syrian refugee resettlement scheme, they believe they have the support of their communities in this too.”
However, Renfrewshire Council leader Mark Macmillan claimed the council was ready to take young people but frustrated by the red tape in its way.
“The council has already agreed to put in place the necessary arrangements to care for a small number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children,” he said. “We would be happy to offer a home to those young people, whether they are already in the UK or coming direct from Calais. However the protocol through which unaccompanied asylum-seeking children can be transferred within the UK does not apply to Scottish local authorities."
Yesterday, Barbara Winton, whose father Sir Nicholas Winton was the architect of the so-called Czech Kindertransport which saw 669 refugee children brought to the UK from Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War, called for the same kindness and compassion to be shown to today’s refugee children.
In an open letter on the Help Refugees website, she made an impassioned plea for them to be offered a safe haven in Britain, to honour her father's memory.
A British Red Cross spokeswoman said it had been working with the Home Office to help ensure that unaccompanied minors are brought to the UK from Calais as quickly and safely as possible and welcomed the help of Scottish local authorities in reuniting and resettling children. She added: "We cannot forget about those who remain in France who potentially have the right to come here. These children need to be identified and brought to the UK as a matter of urgency."
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