Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied child refugees have so far been officially identified in Europe, aside from the UK, and how many of those have reached the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is firmly committed to bringing vulnerable unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, as underpinned by the Immigration Act 2016. Over 20 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act have been accepted for transfer from Europe since Royal Assent, the majority of whom have already arrived in the UK.

We are in active discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF and Non-Governmental Organisations in addition to the Italian, Greek and French governments to strengthen and speed up mechanisms to identify, assess and transfer children who meet the criteria to the UK where this in their best interests.

As is required by the Immigration Act 2016, we are consulting with local authorities to confirm available capacity and to ensure appropriate support systems are in place.

We cannot put a fixed number on arrivals at this point. The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. It is vital that their capacity and ability to help is taken into account. We must also ensure that we are able to continue to fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK.