Calais camp: Charity pressures government over migrant children

A charity has demanded a rapid response from the government to allow 30 unaccompanied children from the "Jungle" camp in Calais into the UK.

The move by Citizens UK comes ahead of the demolition of the Calais camp, which is due to take place on Monday.

The charity says the government has failed to bring the children over and will launch legal action if the process does not begin promptly.

The Home Office said the process to move children to the UK was under way.

Children have begun arriving from Calais this week, but there have been questions raised over whether some are over 18.

'No functioning system'

Citizens UK told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme it is prepared to launch legal proceedings against the government for failing to introduce an "actual process" to facilitate the transfer of child refugees under the Dublin regulation.

It said that the government "has not set up a system for bringing the most vulnerable children who have no family in the UK", despite it being required to arrange the transfer of such children under an amendment to the Immigration Act.

"There is no functioning state system and what system there is, is currently almost entirely dependent on private actors," the charity added.

It said it passed the details of 30 "fully assessed" children to the Home Office on Tuesday with a deadline of Thursday to respond.

Lord Dubs says the Home Office has been too slow to bring over unaccompanied children to the UK

The UK's Immigration Act 2016, passed earlier this year, included an amendment, originally put forward by Labour peer Lord Dubs, placing a legal requirement on the government to arrange unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to be transferred into the UK.

This is known as the Dubs amendment and is in addition to the EU's Dublin regulation, which allows unaccompanied refugee children to be placed in a country where they have a relative who can be responsible for their care.

Lord Dubs told the Victoria Derbyshire programme that the Home Office has been "very slow" in organising the transfer of children into the UK.

"We'd hoped something would start way back in May or June, when Parliament passed the amendment," he said.

"They're beginning to move, they're beginning to do the right things, but they should have got on with this a long time ago.

"What we're worried about is that the camp will be demolished and some of the children with no family here will be stuck without safety."

Lord Dubs also said his amendment did not say the UK should take in all the migrant children, but that "we should take our share".

Ealing council leader Julian Bell said more councils should take in unaccompanied migrant children

Ealing Council has pledged to take in 10 unaccompanied children from the Calais camp.

Its leader, councillor Julian Bell, has visited the camp and is calling on other councils to take in migrant children.

He said: "If every council took five or 10, like my council's willing to do, then we'd more than deal with the problem."

Mr Bell also said Hammersmith and Fulham Council is willing to take 15, while Hounslow Council has agreed to admit five children.

Immigration minister Robert Goodwill said the process to transfer "as many eligible children as possible" from Calais to the UK, before the start of the camp clearance, was "under way".

He added: "We are working extremely closely with the French authorities and charities and NGOs on the ground to make this happen.

"Our focus remains to ensure the vulnerable minors who are eligible to come here arrive safely. Ultimately it is up to the government, who is admitted to the UK and under what terms. This must be done through an agreed and proper process and with the agreement of the French."

The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.