First batch of Muslim Calais ‘children’ arrive in Britain who claim to be aged 14 to 17

https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/first-batch-of-muslim-calais-children-arrive-in-britain/

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Admin Leave a comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rate This

The most rapidly aged “children” you can find. Hopeful their future victims will belong to the liberal socialist left.
.
.

The first Calais ‘children’ arrive in Britain: Migrants who claim to be aged 14 to 17 are reunited with their families in the UK as French prepare to demolish Jungle camp 

• First migrant children have arrived in the UK from the Calais Jungle camp 
• Fourteen are understood to have left the northern French port today
• They arrived at the Home Office in Croydon, south London, this afternoon
• The youngsters will be reunited with relatives already living in Britain 

By Stephanie Linning for MailOnline
Published: 13:40, 17 October 2016 |

The first migrant children have arrived in Britain from Calais as a fast-track system is launched to move youngsters from the Jungle camp before it is demolished.

Fourteen children aged 14 to 17 arrived by coach at the head office of UK Visas and Immigration in Croydon, south London, to register with the Home Office.

The youngsters, who are understood to come from war-torn countries including Syria and Sudan, will be processed and screened at the centre before they are reunited with relatives already living in Britain.

They are the first of some 100 children who are expected to make the same journey this week as French authorities prepare to raze the Jungle camp to the ground.

A boy is escorted to the Home Office branch in Croydon, south London, after arriving from the Calais Jungle camp. Some 14 youngsters are believed to have made the journey today

The youngsters (one pictured) are the first of dozens of children who are expected to make the same journey this week as French authorities prepare to raze the Jungle camp to the ground

The children, one boy pictured, will be reunited with relatives already living in Britain.

A team of British officials were sent to Calais to help French officials speed up the transfer of minors ahead of the demolition.

An EU regulation allows children with close relatives in the UK to seek asylum. A number of other unaccompanied children became eligible under an amendment to the Immigration Act introduced in May.

Chef Asif Khan, 25, said his 14-year-old brother Aimal was among those who arrived today. The brothers have not seen each other for more than a decade after Asif fled their home in Afghanistan.

Asif, who has lived in Britain for 11 years, said he is simply looking forward to giving his little brother a hug.

He said: ‘I really appreciate this. My brother was in Calais for the last six months.

‘It was a blessing to receive him from there. I’m really happy. His journey was so difficult, it was by walking, by bus to Calais.

‘He gets a new life now, because there are many people who died in Calais.’

Supporters welcomed the group’s arrival but warned there was still work to be done

Two of the youngsters are escorted off the bus and taken to the Home Office office

A man smiles with one of two unidentified young migrants as they arrive in Britain by coach.

---

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The law which governs EU asylum claims states migrants should claim asylum in the first EU country reached.

However there is a clause which allows minors to apply for asylum in another European country if they already have family living there.

Lord Dubs, who came to Britain on the Kindertransport programme for Jewish children fleeing Nazi Germany, brought an amendment to the Immigration Act which was passed in May.

This states the UK will take ‘vulnerable unaccompanied child refugees’ who arrived in the EU before March 20.

These child refugees must be travelling on their own and fleeing conflict in their home country. Exceptions also apply to children under 13, girls and orphans.

More than 80 unaccompanied children have so far been accepted to Britain under EU asylum law this year, according to the Home Office.

It is not yet clear how many children will be accepted from Calais this week, although some figures suggest it will be around 100.

---

A number of checks will be carried out before the children are reunited with family.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘This is the start of the process to transfer as many eligible children as possible before the start of the clearance, as the Home Secretary set out in Parliament.’

The group’s arrival was welcomed by the charity Citizens UK, which said it has reunited 60 children from Calais with relatives in Britain since March.

An estimated 1,000 unaccompanied children are currently living in the Jungle of which around 180 have been identified as having family ties to Britain.

Lord Dubs, whose amendment to the Immigration Act 2016 requires the Government to relocate unaccompanied refugee children from Europe, said: ‘In the coming days, Citizens UK’s Safe Passage team will be working round the clock to ensure that all children with a legal right to sanctuary in the UK are brought to safety.

‘This includes the children eligible under the Dubs amendment, for whom there is still no official process in place. No child must be left behind in the chaos of demolition.’

He added: ‘Looking ahead we must never allow a repeat of Calais. The Government must learn lessons from this situation and realise that it has a duty to make the Dublin mechanism work across Europe, as well as establishing a clear procedure for children without family eligible for sanctuary under the Dubs amendment.’

A boy looks out of the bus window as he arrives at the Home Office in Croydon, south London.

A team of British officials were sent to Calais to help French officials speed up the transfer of minors ahead of the demolition of the migrant Jungle camp. Pictured, a boy in London today.

UK Border Force staff escort the first group of unaccompanied minors to the Home Office.

Actress Juliet Stevenson said it was a ‘proud moment’ for Britain.

She added: ‘We did the right thing. The arrival of hundreds of vulnerable children from Calais to the UK in the coming days is in no small part due to the tireless campaigning of community leaders, the hard work of Citizens UK’s lawyers, and the Safe Passage team in Calais who have been working to safeguard children for over a year.

‘Many children will sleep safely in warm beds tonight but in the coming days we must make sure every last child with a right to sanctuary here is brought to safety.’

Campaigners say they have identified hundreds of children in the camp who have a right to come to the UK, either because they have family ties here under the so-called Dublin regulations, or through the Dubs amendment.

The Government has faced criticism over efforts to identify and transfer youngsters. Pictured, some of the unaccompanied children  arriving at the Home Office centre in south London.

One young man clapped as he stepped off the bus in London after the journey from Calais

The children have been moved as the French authorities prepare to demolish the Jungle.

Border Force staff were on hand to escort the youngsters from the coach to the office.

The Government has faced criticism over efforts to identify and transfer youngsters through the routes.

Last week Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the Commons that more than 80 unaccompanied children had been accepted for transfer under the Dublin regulation so far this year.

Under the rule, asylum claims must be made in the first safe country a person reaches but children can have their application transferred to another country if they have family members living there.

The Home Secretary also said that more than 50 children had been taken, largely from Greece, under Lord Dubs’ amendment to the Immigration Act.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said he is ‘delighted’ to welcome the children to the UK, but cautioned that this is the first step and more children need help urgently.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams speaks to the media today

The Home Office centre at Lunar House in Croydon, south London, where the migrants arrived

Let the world know and share this: