Syria: Pickles urges help for 'at risk' refugee children

Charities have been urging the UK to take in more refugee children

Political pressure is continuing to grow on the government to take in thousands of unaccompanied refugee children who have made it into Europe.

Former cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles said those "at risk" should be treated with "Christian spirit".

Former Children's Minister Tim Loughton said there was a strong humanitarian case to help those "in limbo".

Ministers say no decision has been made but charities want the UK to admit 3,000 minors from Syria and elsewhere.

Last year, an estimated 26,000 children arrived in Europe without their families.

Many had simply disappeared and were at risk of falling prey to people-traffickers, drug dealers and other abusers, Save the Children said.

The charity wants the UK to take in a further 3,000 unaccompanied children, in addition to the 20,000 refugees the UK has already pledged to take direct from refugee camps over the next five years.

Speaking in a debate in the House of Commons, Sir Eric, the former Communities and Local Government Secretary, who is now the UK's anti-Semitism envoy, said he was pleased the issue was being looked at again.

"He is quite right to try and keep children in the region, but to use the world's phrases, 'we are where we are', he said of Prime Minister David Cameron.

"There are children out there who are at risk, and I would urge the government to look carefully about this.

"After all this is 25 January - a month ago we were celebrating that great Christian festival of children, and I hope that that spirit lingers beyond Boxing Day."

The government could look to foster families to help house the children, one charity said

Labour said it was concerned that Mr Cameron might be planning to help only children within camps near Syria

Speaking after meeting interior ministers from other EU nations, in Amsterdam, Home Secretary Theresa May said Europe was "struggling to cope" and every nation needed to do its bit.

"Together with my counterparts from France and Germany, I made the case for urgent action, not just to deal with the immediate crisis, but also to resolve the situation in the longer term," she said.

"Unfortunately, what we've had is more talk than action.

"And we need urgently to work together to ensure that we can have proper processing at Europe's external borders, that we're returning illegal migrants, and that we're working up-stream in transit and origin countries."

On the issue of whether to prioritise child refugees, Mrs May said the UK's thinking would be driven by "the best interests of the child".

A "variety of options" was being examined, she added.

Earlier this month, Mr Cameron told the Commons he was considering the issue "in good faith", and the BBC understands he has yet to make up his mind whether to take more refugees.

Some warn taking in more lone children could lead to subsequent demands for their relatives to be brought to Britain - but Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems are asking the UK to do more.

Raising the matter in an urgent question in the House of Commons, Labour MP Yvette Cooper said reception centres and children's homes in a number of European countries were overflowing and refugee children "disappearing".

"We hear rumours that the government will only be looking at helping child refugees from camps in the region," she said. "That is not enough."

In response, Home Office Minister James Brokenshire said the issue remained under review.

"Such a serious issue, potentially affecting the lives of so many, must be considered thoroughly, and no decisions have been taken yet," he said.

"The government is clear that any action to help and assist unaccompanied minors must be in the best interests of the child, and it is right that that is our primary concern."

Kent County Council has already warned it will not be able to accept any more unaccompanied children, saying its children's services are facing "enormous pressure" and have run out of foster beds.