NI officials prepare for Syrian refugees

The UK will take 20,000 Syrian refuges from camps by 2020

Stormont officials are working to prepare for the arrival of Syrian refugees in Northern Ireland, Acting First Minister Arlene Foster has said.

A strategic planning group will advise ministers on their responsibilities, she said.

Practical steps to meet immediate and longer term needs will be considered by an operational planning group.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK will accept up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.

The UK has accepted more than 200 refugees from Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme (VPRS) since it began in January 2014.

Facts about the Vulnerable People Relocation Scheme

• To qualify for the VPRS, a person must either be a survivor of torture or violence, a woman or child at risk, or in need of medical care. There may also be further interviews by Home Office staff to address any security concerns

• Before anyone can travel to the UK, a local authority must agree to take them in

• Under the scheme all of the "paperwork" is done before the refugees arrive. From day one they get housing, have access to medical care and education and they can work

• Refugees taken into the UK via this scheme will be granted five years' humanitarian protection which includes access to public funds, the labour market and the possibility of family reunion, if a person was split up from their partner or child when leaving their country

• After those five years they can apply to settle in the UK.

However, Mrs Foster told First Minister's Questions on Monday that details of how the scheme would operate in Northern Ireland had not yet been finalised.

The strategic planning group is being led by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, while the operational planning group is part of the Department for Social Development (DSD)

Northern Ireland's 11 councils have already been contacted by the DSD operational planning group to outline how the scheme might work and what role local government might play.

In a letter to councils issued earlier this month, a DSD official said it was envisaged that groups of between 25 and 100 people would arrive, at least six to eight weeks apart, "on a phased basis over a number of years".

"Initial thoughts are that the most appropriate settlement pattern may be to bring groups of 10 to 15 refugee households to an area," said an DSD official.

"This size of group would be large enough to allow the refugees to form informal support networks with people who share a cultural background and language, but not so large that local communities feel overwhelmed."

The official said that on arrival, refugees might be brought to a reception centre for a short period before being settled into permanent accommodation.

He said the operational planning group had begun work to identify suitable locations, "taking into account the availability of housing and capacity in key public services such as education and health".