The British government announced yesterday its intention to take in 3,000 Syrian refugees, all of them minors, who are currently in refugee camps in countries neighbouring Syria.
“Taking in this number of children is considered to be the largest initiative of its kind in the world,” said Immigration Minister James Brokenshire in a press release. He explained that the process is being carried out in coordination with the UNHCR. The minister stressed that Britain is committed to providing a save haven for thousands of orphan children and those prone to danger due to their situation in the camps.
He added that the British government has always been clear that the vast majority of vulnerable children are better off remaining in host countries in the region so that they can be reunited with surviving family members. “However, there are exceptional circumstances in which it is in a child’s best interests to be resettled in the UK.”
In this context, he announced that Britain is to send 75 officials to Greece to help with the processing and administration in detention centres and deal with the cases of the refugees who will be sent back to Turkey in line with the latest EU agreement with Ankara.
The agreement is to send back refugees in exchange for resettling those who came to Turkey legally. The fact that Britain will hold a referendum in June over its membership of the EU is considered to be one of the main motives behind increasing the number of migrants to be allowed into the UK.