Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
KIDS ON ESCAPE FROM WAR ZONES
Crime bigwig to watch the coast
DESPERATE refugees are using shovels to paddle across the Channel – as fears grow for hundreds of children risking their lives to reach UK shores.
This week has seen record numbers of asylum seekers arriving on the Kent coast, with the total for the year now at nearly 4,000.
An alarming number of those are lone children, who have fled the world’s most dangerous countries and are now desperate to escape hellish conditions in Calais.
Experts warned last night that even more youngsters could try to make the perilous journey amid fears Brexit may soon bar their way into Britain.
On Friday, 23 under18s made the crossing without an adult and were taken into care.
On the same day four refugees were pictured paddling across the 23-mile stretch of water with shovels. And a group of 14, including a pregnant woman, came ashore in the village of Kingsdown.
Yesterday dozens more tried to cross the world’s busiest shipping lane between Calais and Dover. One in a wheelchair was brought ashore in a Border Force boat and wheeled to a waiting ambulance.
The crisis has sparked major tension between Britain and France in the middle of EU withdrawal talks. Home Secretary Priti Patel has threatened to use the Navy to send migrants back, but experts question the legality of her plans.
The situation for migrant children could be about to get worse because a scheme which allows them to join relatives in Britain is under threat.
The UK is signed up to an EU law which aims to reunite child migrants with relatives. But that law will cease to apply when the Brexit transition period ends on December 31.
This week, traumatised children in Calais told us they fear their cases will get stuck in the system – so they may risk drowning to get here.
Numbers arriving in the UK are up. Kent County Council has taken in almost 250 unaccompanied children since the start of May.
The Home Office says migrants are safe in France. But many sleep rough in Calais rather than the camps, where exploitation and trafficking are rife. Volunteers said some solo refugees are as young as eight.
People traffickers charge migrants up to £4,000 to cross the sea.
Some report having guns held to their heads to force them on board overcrowded boats. And when they reach the UK, some refugees fall victim to sexual exploitation and modern slavery.
Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who visited lone child migrants with charity Care 4 Calais last year, has pushed for legislation to help them find sanctuary in Britain post-Brexit. But his efforts have stalled due to Tory opposition.
He said: “We are anxious there are safe ways for unaccompanied children to get to the UK. They do what any of us would to join their families. If we can’t give them a legal route, they will do something dangerous.”
If we can’t give them a legal route they will do something dangerous
CALLING FOR CHILD MIGRANT LAWS
To donate to Care 4 Calais, visit care4calais.org/ emergency-appeal