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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britaincantjustpretendthatchildrefugeesaresomeoneelsesproblemq8p6fk9jz 1/12
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RED BOX: COMMENT
february 21 2017, 12:01am, the times
Britain can’t just pretend that childrefugees are someone else’s problem
heidi allen, alison mcgovern, tom brake, anne mclaughlin
oing our bit to help vulnerable children is not a partypolitical issue but a basic human value, andsomething we have been very proud of in the UK. By
working together, we hope to ensure that the Britishgovernment continues to o埇�er a system that works for, notagainst, children seeking safety.
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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britaincantjustpretendthatchildrefugeesaresomeoneelsesproblemq8p6fk9jz 2/12
The UK government must honour the commitment we madelast year as a country, and enshrined in legislation. We havesecured a debate in the House of Commons this Thursday onhow we help unaccompanied children still trapped in Greeceand Italy.
The recent announcement by the government to end the Dubsscheme for unaccompanied children in Europe after only 350transfers has caused dismay and frustration across party lines.Far from retreating from our commitments, many MPs havelong been arguing that we should be going much further in oursupport for refugees. After their horrific journeys, some arguethat reaching Europe means the worst is behind them and theyare now safe. Sadly, that is just not the reality.
In Italy, children sit in shelters where traퟞ�ckers wait outsidefor them. Some face sexual and criminal exploitation. In Greece,there aren’t enough spaces in oퟞ�cial shelters forunaccompanied children, so many wait in squats and makeshiftshelters until their cases are processed. Every day represents anew risk from criminals who prey on the vulnerable anddesperate.
As a global leader, we cannot say this is simply a problem forthe Greek and Italian governments. According to Unicef, morethan 30,000 unaccompanied children arrived in these countrieslast year, so their child protection services are catastrophicallystrained. All countries with financial means need to do their bitto keep these children safe and help relieve the pressure onItaly and Greece.
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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
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As part of the EU-Turkey deal, the home oퟞ�ce o埇�ered to send75 sta埇� members to Greece to help their government witharrivals – they said this was to support Greece “to enable themto process migrants and undertake large scale returnoperations”. But to date they have sent just one person focusedon bringing children to the UK. Similarly, there is just one inItaly.
As a result there were just three transfers from Italy and fivefrom Greece last year. These were children with a right to bereunited with family members already in Europe under existingDublin legislation. The UK has taken no unaccompaniedchildren, as promised under the Dubs legislation. They havebeen left behind.
It is not fair to argue, as the home oퟞ�ce has tried, that this is acapacity issue within local authorities. Many have been clearthey are willing to take more and have come forward to confirmthis. The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have signalledtheir strong support for unaccompanied children. This is apolitical, not a practical, cap on numbers.
On Thursday, the UK government can show that it is in tunewith the values of the public. Within a few hours of announcingour debate, more than 5,000 people had emailed their MPasking that they attend, while an amazing 173,000 signed
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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
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Unicef’s petition on making family reunion work forunaccompanied children. Doing the right thing matters for thepeople of Liverpool, London, Glasgow, Cambridgeshire, Belfastand Cardi埇�.
Additionally, the UK Government must show they arecommitted to creating a sustainable refugee operation inEurope. That means quickly reuniting families, getting the mostvulnerable children to safety and ensuring regular and ongoingdialogue with all our local authorities. This nightmare is not yetover for these children and until it is, our role is not either.
Heidi Allen is Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire.Alison McGovern is Labour MP for Wirral South. Tom Brake isLiberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington. AnneMcLaughlin is SNP MP for Glasgow North East.
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18 comments
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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britaincantjustpretendthatchildrefugeesaresomeoneelsesproblemq8p6fk9jz 5/12
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The Observer 2 hours ago
J Daniels 5 hours ago
barbara stevens 5 hours ago
Angus MUNRO 6 hours ago
Thesiger 6 hours ago
What about the parental responsibility for the contended 30000unaccompanied children and how many are actually children?.
2 Recommend Reply
If the traퟞ�ckers in Italy are waiting outside the shelters why arethey not being arrested?What exactly do they mean by squats and shelters and where wouldthey suggest they go?A strain on Greece and Italy, maybe Greece and Italy should havestopped letting them land in the first place, instead they sent outships to pick them up and take them to Greece and Italyencouraging others and adding to the problem. The UK Government can show it is in tune with the values of thepublic 173.000 signed a petition, that would be the likes of Allen,Lineker, McGregor, Cumberbach and the rest of the self righteousleftie luvvies .Just imagine, if they all took an unaccompanied child out of a socalled safe country, a big part of the problem would be solved, asthey say ...actions speak louder than words.
Recommend Reply
It is the countries the refugees come from responsibility to lookafter their citizens, these countries should start getting theircountries fit to live in and stop the exodus of their citizens.
Recommend Reply
How many billion in Foreign Aid???? If only it was used correctly! Oh! and they are someone else's problem...... They are not living inthe UK. The countries where the children live or have now reachedcan provide for them.
1 Recommend Reply
MENU tuesday february 21 2017
2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britaincantjustpretendthatchildrefugeesaresomeoneelsesproblemq8p6fk9jz 6/12
Christopher Lennon 6 hours ago
Christopher Lennon 6 hours ago
Richard Marriott 6 hours ago
Boudicca 7 hours ago
They are not refugees and many are not children. They areoverwhelmingly male migrants who have illegally travelled througha succession of safe countries, enabled by people traퟞ�ckers andfunded in many cases by their extended family. We should hold theline.
4 Recommend Reply
"Some face sexual and criminal exploitation." And in the UK theydon't?
1 Recommend Reply
There is no pretence involved. The child refugees, manybeneficiaries of a very stretched, PC definition of "child" and poorsupervisory eyesight, are in a safe, friendly country. They are not,therefore, our responsibility. True, the EU set quotas, but are we notresolved to leave the EU? That being the case, why should we bebound? Sooner or later, we will have to stop listening to the bogusasylum industry and its army of do-gooders and work out howmany Third World people this tiny, overcrowded country cancontinue to admit, year after year after year, into the infinite futureand the e埇�ects that will have.
Recommend Reply
So, the above are arguing in favour of those who go asylumshopping via the people traퟞ�ckers, at the expense of the genuinechildren and the truly vulnerable left behind in the refugee camps.
Any humane response would concentrate aid support and eventransfer to the UK, on properly vetted genuine refugee children,instead of rewarding and encouraging the self selecting young menasylum shopping across Europe!
Recommend Reply
Unaccompanied child migrants are no more "refugees" than adultones if they have crossed several safe countries, in the hope they
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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
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Mrs P Dexter 7 hours ago
CM 8 hours ago
TheThird Man 8 hours ago
can choose the one they'd like to protect them. Child migrants in Europe are in safe countries. They have no rightto come to the UK and we have no obligation to take them. As we saw a few months ago, many of these so-called children areadults.
5 Recommend Reply
I sincerely hope you can reverse this shameful decision to abandonthese vulnerable children. It is a stain on our integrity.
Recommend Reply
TheThird Man 1 hour ago
@Mrs P Dexter Mrs P, whilst I admire your empathy, thesechildren are in a safe country where they can be lookedafter and claim asylum. They have not been abandoned bythe UK as they were never our responsibility in the firstplace, so whilst we can all want to help them, this would bein a personal rather than a UK government capacity.
5 Recommend Reply
I am currently paying for my husband's herceptin because the NHSwon't. His mother paid for his radiotherapy because the NHSimposed unacceptable delays. I pay a lot of tax. I do not consent topay tax for these foreign people. They have countries of their own.They will never work, they will come and cost me and othertaxpayers hundreds of thousands a year once their families jointhem for their entire lives and the lives of their descendants. We seethis daily in our society already. I am a victim of your disgustingvirtue signalling and I deeply, intensely resent it. I can't pay mymortgage o埇� or save into my pension because I am paying what theNHS should be because you are stealing my money at the HMRCgunpoint to throw at ungrateful and unwanted foreigners. How dareyou? Spend your own money. Stop stealing mine. You disgust me.
16 Recommend Reply
MENU tuesday february 21 2017
2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
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Wild Dog 10 hours ago
Jill Allan 12 hours ago
These MPs who have signed this article are part of the problem notpart of the solution with their muddle headed virtue signalling. Nobody wants children anywhere to su埇�er however: Children who pass through safe countries to get to the UK aremigrants not refugees Local authorities have already said they cannot take more children If you make it easier for these children to get to the UK then it justencourages more people traퟞ�cking to make the situation worse. Ifyou are going to take refugees , then they have to be from the campsnear where they are from to ensure that they are genuine The UK should take some child refugees but, for every refugeesuccess there are multiple failures so the true cost of taking themwith a potential life time of tax-funded support needs to beconsidered. Writing an article on this issue for something these MPs are notresponsible for, such foreign civil wars, natural disastersin places where the UK has no remit or responsibility, just seems away to get cheap virtue signalling applause. These MPs shouldinstead focus on improving the lives of their constituent childrenwho are orphans, mistreated, awaiting adoption, in poor health orgenerally living in dire conditions which reduces their life chances.
16 Recommend Reply
Reference the headline - Why not, they are in someone else's safecountry and we do not have the resources in manpower to supportthem. There is a problem of trust. In general terms the public do nottrust that they are genuine children, that they are close familymembers not some distant unknown relative and that theirrelatives can support them in a foreign culture with a foreignlanguage.
18 Recommend Reply
"The recent announcement by the government to end the Dubsscheme for unaccompanied children in Europe after only 350
MENU tuesday february 21 2017
2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
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Intercontinental 14 hours ago
Pollock 15 hours ago
transfers..." "The UK has taken no unaccompanied children, as promised underthe Dubs legislation..." I cannot reconcile these two claims - how does 350 equate to none?
9 Recommend Reply
The refugee/asylum seekers exist in France because Mrs Merkelinvited them to come to EUrope.The responsibility to take care of the various refugees/asylumseekers rests with Merkel not the British government.
28 Recommend Reply
I feel deeply ashamed.
2 Recommend Reply
Reperio 6 hours ago
@Pollock OK but please be proud that we have taken in250,000 Iraqis, 75,000 Iranians, 100,000 Afghans etc manyof which are children.
2 Recommend Reply
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2/21/2017 Britain can’t just pretend that child refugees are someone else’s problem | News | The Times & The Sunday Times
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