Calais Jungle: Bring children from refugee camp to the UK, says Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy
Jeremy Lefroy has won his battle to bring children from the Calais jungle to the UK after the Home Secretary vowed to help those with connections to Britain.
The Stafford MP had urged Amber Rudd to ensure that unaccompanied children with family in Britain are moved out of the Calais refugee camp before it is torn down.
He is one of 10 Tory MPs, including former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, who called Miss Rudd to 'champion' the role of the family in resolving the refugee crisis in a bid to keep children out of the hands of people traffickers.
In their letter they wrote: "We must ensure that it is the authorities and the law that help these children, and not the criminals who would put them in the back of trucks or leave them to take their own chances.
"We know how seriously you take this issue and we want you to know you have our full support to act to ensure these children learn their legal rights to be with their family and get to be with them safely and quickly.
"We can do more to help these children and in doing so we will defeat the traffickers."
The Home Secretary has confirmed that Britain is set to start taking hundreds of child migrants from the Calais jungle within weeks.
She said that French bureaucracy, which has delayed the transfer of children in the UK, had been urgently addressed during a recent meeting with Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Minister of Interior.
She said that there is an 'accelerated co-operation' from the French and suggested that children will begin coming to the UK within the next fortnight.
France has agreed to pass Britain a list of children entitled to come to the UK, Miss Rudd said, as she vowed to start bringing children to the UK with a right to be here 'within days'.
"We will take children who have a right to be here," she said. "There is no stone unturned for this Government to assist the French."
She said that the children will be relocated to the UK with 'all speed and haste' and focus on helping those aged under 12 who are most at risk.
Charities estimate there are 387 children in the Calais camp who are entitled to move to the UK. Around half of them have family members in this country.
France has vowed to shut down the jungle camp, starting next week. It will see around 9,000 people move to 140 centres across France over the coming weeks.
