Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that Syrian children given asylum in the UK will be able to enter in time for the start of the school year in September.

James Brokenshire

The Syrian resettlement scheme has already provided safe haven to more than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians since the scheme was expanded in September 2015. More than half of these were children and we expect children to make up a significant proportion of the 20,000 resettlement places we are providing under the scheme.

In addition, we have committed to resettling up to 3,000 individuals from the Middle East and North Africa over the lifetime of this Parliament through the resettlement scheme announced on 21 April for children at risk and their family members. As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will also work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests. Work has begun on how best to implement the legislation and we are committed to act as quickly as we can, while ensuring that we have the necessary services in place to care for these children alongside those who are already in the UK and have claimed asylum here.

We also continue to work closely with France and other EU Member States to ensure that arrangements for transferring asylum cases under the Dublin Regulation are operating as effectively as possible. A senior UK official was seconded to the French Dublin Unit to assist with the identification and transfer of cases and since February more than 20 children have been transferred to the UK from France and there are many other cases in train.

All Syrian and other children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.