The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Teen refugees from ‘Jungle’ arrive in UK
Migrants: Lily Allen welcomes boy, 13
Singer Lily Allen has welcomed the fast-tracked arrival to the UK of a teenage boy who caused her to break down in tears when she visited the Jungle camp in Calais.
Shamsher Sherin, 13, who has a right to live in the UK through his family ties, was one of around a dozen children who were brought by bus to meet Home Office officials in Croydon, south London, yesterday as the French camp prepares for demolition.
The Afghan national smiled as he made his way inside the building for screening and interview, and is expected to be reunited with his family later.
Allen tweeted: “So happy to see that Shamsher made it to the UK safely and won’t be risking his life jumping on to moving vehicles.”
The teenager had been camped at the Jungle on the edge of the northern French port city for two months.
During their meeting earlier this month, Allen told him: “It just seems that at three different intervals in this young boy’s life, the English in particular have put you in danger.
“We’ve bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban and now put you in danger of risking your life to get into our country. I apologise on behalf of my country.”
The boy was shepherded into the government building as relatives and supporters waited behind barricades, some holding “welcome” signs.
The latest arrivals came after some critics argued those who arrived on Tuesday appeared to be much older than 18.
Tory MP David Davies has been accused in the House of Commons of fuelling “xenophobic attacks” after he said the teenagers “don’t look like children” and should be given dental checks to prove their age.
The SNP’s Neil Gray also labelled Mr Davies’s remarks “disgraceful”.
But the chairman of the Commons Welsh Affairs SelectCommitteedefended his comments, saying: “We must not be naive about this.
“It’s no good Lily Allen turningupwith tears in her eyes and all the rest of it - we need to be quite hardnosed here.”
The arrival of the group, made up of youngsters from war-torn countries, including Syria and Sudan, has been welcomed by charities and faith leaders.