Seeking Sanctuary appeals for action from everyone on child refugees

Eritrean child in Calais Jungle - ICN

Thanks to Lord Dubs and his supporters, the 2016 Immigration Act obliges the government to take action to help unaccompanied refugee children who are already in Europe to come and resettle in the UK. But Phil Kerton and Ben Beno from the charity Seeking Sanctuary have expressed concern that time is passing and children are still on their own in potentially dangerous situations - living in poor conditions with inadequate shelter, hygiene and nutrition, missing out on education and secure home life essential to their development.

The Immigration Act 2016 - Section 67 - Unaccompanied refugee children: relocation and support states:

(1) The Secretary of State must, as soon as possible after the passing of this Act, make arrangements to relocate to the United Kingdom and support a specified number of unaccompanied refugee children from other countries in Europe.

(2) The number of children to be resettled under subsection (1) shall be determined by the Government in consultation with local authorities.

(3) The relocation of children under subsection (1) shall be in addition to the resettlement of children under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme.

Seeking Sanctuary says: "This is indeed wonderful news, and the hope is that many child refugees will be saved from falling through the cracks in Europe - but the real danger is that the clock is ticking. There is fear that little or nothing will be done because the consultation process is allegedly complicated and lengthy. The project will then be left to fail and children will remain in camps in Europe.

"Now is the time for individuals and organisations, and in particular Faith Communities which p4rovide so much of our support, to put pressure on both our MPs and our local authorities to accept agreed number of unaccompanied children - preferably at least five. The government accepted this amendment to the Act with great reluctance!"

If you'd like to help admit unaccompanied child refugees into your district - or help foster, find school places, and other support systems - you need to start with your local MP and Councillors. You will be asking them to perform different functions - your MP should be asked to champion the cause and lobby central government for a decent enough financial package to make the project viable. Councillors enabling the nitty gritty of housing children on a limited budget, and you can offer your help by making them aware of grass-roots initiatives, foster care applicants, supportive schools, etc. in your area.

Citizens UK have trained teams to take concerted action in a number of places. They have an excellent eight-step Guide to building a successful resettlement campaign (for any refugees, not specifically for unaccompanied children) See: www.citizensuk.org/8_step_guide

Calais Action has suggested letters to personalise and send to MPs and councillors, and these are available via this link on their website: http://seekingsanctuary.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/3/5/51352511/councillor_mp.pdf

Also, there is a relevant new petition to the Home Secretary to sign and share, "Let child refugees reunite with their families in the UK" : www.change.org/p/rt-hon-theresa-may-mp-let-child-refugees-reunite-with-their-families-in-the-uk?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=586637&alert_id=zYmQScdaSZ_I%2F3orLxTm%2B13MEfrub0T5pMp2vcRRkdgYvN2GM8FqfBz3L1Plh1LlACcnPfNgDzR

There are currently still more that 5000 migrants in and around Calais (March 2016) and many more near Dunkirk . 'Seeking Sanctuary' aims to raise awareness about this situation and is organising basic humanitarian assistance through Faith Communities and Community Organisations in partnership with experienced aid agencies.

For further information on how you or your organisation can help, contact Ben Bano on 07887 651117 or Phil Kerton on 01474 873802. To check the latest news, visit their website on www.seekingsanctuary.weebly.com.