Last month I received a number of emails from my
constituents asking for my support in ensuring that safe passage be given to
the 480 unaccompanied refugee children under the so called “Dubs Amendment”.
MPs and Peers have been assured by the Government
that ministers remain “fully committed to delivering our commitment to transfer
the specified number of 480 children under section 67 of the Immigration Act
2016 and are working very closely with Member States, as well as the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) and NGO partners to identify and transfer children to the UK in line with
each individual Member State’s national laws.”
According to a recent response to a parliamentary
question on the progress of resettling unaccompanied child refugees, ministers
said that over 220 children are already resettled in the UK and “transfers are
ongoing”.
In addition to intake from the Dubs Amendment
scheme, the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) resettles at-risk
refugee children from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including
their families. The scheme does not solely target unaccompanied children, but
on UNHCR’s advice also extends to vulnerable ‘children at risk’, such as those
threatened with child labour, child marriage and other forms of abuse or
exploitation. It is open to all at risk groups and nationalities within the
region.
The Government aims to resettle up to 3,000 people
(children and families, where the child at risk is part of a family unit)
through the scheme by 2020 through VCRS, which is the largest resettlement
effort aimed specifically at children at risk from the MENA region. This
programme in addition to the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000
refugees from Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS).
It is important that the Government fulfil its
current commitment and continues to make safe humanitarian pathways to
resettlement available for the most vulnerable refugees, especially
unaccompanied minors. I will be seeking to raise this with the Minister for
Immigration when I next see her.
