Children leave ahead of bulldozers
BRITAIN/FRANCE: The largest group of child refugees to date, including more than 50 girls, arrived in Britain yesterday from the Calais Jungle, as officials scrambled to evacuate as many youngsters as possible from the French camp before its demolition begins today.
More than 80 children were transferred to London in buses, including two reserved for the first significant batch of girls brought to the UK under a Home Office rescue plan.
Ministers believe about a third of the 1300 unaccompanied minors living in the Jungle camp may be eligible to come to the UK. Yet by Saturday only about 75 children had been transferred, as part of a botched operation that has seen critics questioning the ages of some of the new arrivals.
Some newspapers have claimed one migrant who arrived last week could be as old as 38. Those leaving Calais yesterday included 55 girls, believed to be aged between 14 and 17 and mainly of Eritrean origin, who smiled and waved at photographers.
Officials are racing against time to move the children from the Jungle camp, which is expected to be cleared and bulldozed by the end of this week.
Charities and MPs fear some of the most vulnerable migrants - including children as young as 10 - could be exploited and abused by criminals if they are not swiftly resettled. More than 100 children went missing when a previous camp in Calais was dismantled.
‘‘With the camp demolition now expected to begin, many of these children could just disappear back into the arms of the trafficking and prostitution gangs,’’ said Yvette Cooper, the new chairwoman of the Commons home affairs committee.
The UK Home Office has prioritised the cases of about 200 children in Calais who are able to join relatives in Britain. They include Shamsher Sherin, the 13-year-old Afghan boy to whom pop singer Lily Allen apologised ‘‘on behalf of my country’’ during a recent visit to the Jungle camp.
However, charities say at least 200 more unaccompanied children should be allowed passage to Britain under changes introduced to immigration law this year. - Sunday Times