Home Secretary Amber Rudd vows to speed up resettling Calais kids ahead of Jungle camp closure
Britain to transfer 'as many minors as possible' after French finally vow to provide details of children with links to UK
THE HOME Secretary today vowed to speed up plans to resettle “hundreds” of vulnerable kids from Calais – after crunch talks with the French.
Amber Rudd said French officials had finally vowed to provide details of unaccompanied children with family links to the UK.
And she promised Britain hoped to transfer “as many minors as possible” before the French begin to tear down the notorious ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in the coming days.
The comments followed a London meeting with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
Rudd said: “We have been pressing for a list.
“The French, we believe, will now give that to us this week.
“And be in no doubt we will move with all urgency – a matter of days, a week at the most – in order to deliver on that commitment when we get it.”
The UK had already vowed to take in children from Calais under the EU’s ‘Dublin Regulations’ – where asylum seekers with family links to Britain can cross the border.
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And the Home Office will also resettle children under the ‘Dubs Amendment’ – where ex-PM David Cameron agreed to offer “safe refuge” to unaccompanied minors fleeing the Syrian conflict.
Cazeneuve said Britain had a “moral duty” to take in all children with family links to the UK.
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, last night praised the “positive progress” being made.
She said: “With the clearing of the camp looming, proper measures must be put in place to protect all children living there prior to its closure.”