Asylum: Children

(asked on 4th December 2018) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied minors who were held in Calais detention centres have been resettled in the UK.


Answered by
Caroline Nokes Portrait
Caroline Nokes
This question was answered on 12th December 2018

In October 2016, the UK acted decisively and on an exceptional basis at the time of the Calais camp clearance to remove 769 vulnerable unaccompanied children from a dangerous situation where they were at risk of violence and abuse. Our action at that time resulted in 220 children being relocated to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, and the remaining 549 children being transferred to reunite with family members already in the UK.

Following the clearance of the camp, the French authorities arranged for the children who had previously been there to be moved to specialist reception centres around France. Children who could not be transferred to the UK and who remained in France were transferred into the French care system.

We are continuing to work closely with French authorities and non-governmental organisations in France to support the identification and transfer of eligible children to the UK under Dublin. We have allocated a £3.6 million Dublin development fund, as part of the Sandhurst Treaty signed between the UK and France in January 2018, to identify projects to support eligible claims through the asylum process and ensure those who are ineligible for transfer to the UK are informed of their options. The Treaty also includes a commitment to reduce timescales for decisions and transfers under Dublin. A UK asylum liaison officer has been deployed to France to support the process.

Responsibility for unaccompanied children on French territory lies with the French authorities, however France is bound by many of the same international obligations as the UK. Children have access to day centres where they can access support and information about the French asylum procedures.

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