Unaccompanied Children (Greece and Italy)

Debate between Jess Phillips and Robert Goodwill

Thursday 23rd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Goodwill]

That is precisely—

[Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way on that exact point?

[Mr Goodwill]

May I answer my hon. Friend’s point before I perhaps take another intervention? That is precisely why checks must be made and why we have given resources to local authorities to ensure that they can check that the children’s welfare is being cared for.

[Jess Phillips]

After giving such detailed analysis to the House, will the Minister provide the exact same detailed analysis in response to the point of the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) about how many people have been convicted in the UK for trafficking in, say, the past year? Will he also place in the Library the evidence that has led him to emphasise the pull factors? Have all the people coming in been surveyed? I want to know what the evidence is.

[Mr Goodwill]

We certainly take the prosecution and detection of people-trafficking crime seriously, and we are working particularly closely with our French colleagues. I was in Holland and Belgium last week to meet my opposite numbers, and we have joint operations at the ports to ensure that people-trafficking gangs can be arrested and prosecuted. I will give the hon. Lady the actual numbers, but there has been a number of successful prosecutions.