Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Calais leave status will be extended to minors present in Calais months before the demolition of the Calais camp in 2016 and who entered the UK through the family reunification route and now face deportation.

Calais leave is a bespoke form of leave, introduced specifically for those children transferred to the UK between 17 October 2016 and 13 July 2017 as part of the Calais camp clearance to reunite with family and who did not qualify for leave to remain in the UK under existing Immigration Rules. It was created in recognition of the specific circumstances that surrounded the clearance of the camp and the transfer of children to the UK.

In agreement with the French Government, the UK took unprecedented action to remove children from a dangerous situation to reunite them with their family in the UK. A total of 549 children were brought to the UK to join family members as part of this process. Granting leave to those transferred from Calais is in keeping with our ongoing commitment to those individuals.

The Dublin Regulation determines the Member State responsible for assessing an asylum claim and does not confer any right to remain in the UK. An unaccompanied child who is transferred to the UK to reunite with family here under the Dublin Regulation will have their asylum claim considered in line with our published policy and guidance. It would not be possible for the UK to unilaterally alter the purpose of transfers under the Dublin Regulation