Syria: Refugees and Counter-terrorism

Chris Heaton-Harris Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con)]

May I thank you, Mr Speaker, for facilitating the organisation of the vigil we held in Westminster Hall earlier today?

I welcome the statement and I am very pleased that we are doing more, but when welcoming Syrian refugees to our shores, how can we ensure that we do not inadvertently reward those who traffic vulnerable people for financial gain?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. One of the ways to make sure that the criminal gangs do not benefit is to take people out of the camps, rather than take people who have arrived in Europe, because, tragically, many of them are being inveigled into using criminal gangs, which benefit when the trade in people increases.