Refugees: Children

(asked on 23rd January 2017) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will confirm when the first transfers of unaccompanied refugee children from Greece and Italy will arrive in the UK under the Dubs amendment; how many children the Government plans to transfer to the UK under that amendment; and when she plans for the programme of transfers to the UK under that amendment to end.


Answered by
Robert Goodwill Portrait
Robert Goodwill
This question was answered on 27th January 2017

In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France. Approximately 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.

We have seconded an expert to Greece to support efforts to transfer children from Greece under the Dublin Regulation and section 67 of the Immigration Act. Our secondee has been working closely with UNHCR, IOM and the Greek authorities to identify potentially eligible children and put in place a process to transfer children to the UK where it is in their best interests. We have a long standing secondee in Italy who is based in the Italian Dublin Unit and supports the effective functioning of the Dublin Regulation between the UK and Italy.

More eligible children will be transferred from Europe, in line with the terms of the Immigration Act, in the coming months. The Government will specify the number to be transferred, the process, and the criteria for further transfers under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 in due course.

The Government will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation. We are not required to publish eligibility criteria for transfers under the Dublin Regulation, as these are set out within the Regulation.

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