UK takes in child refugees ahead of Calais camp closure

Around 70 children from the so-called Calais “Jungle” have arrived in the UK ahead of Monday’s expected closure of the makeshift migrant camp in northern France.

The children arrived under May’s “Dubs amendment” to the UK’s Immigration Act which allows unaccompanied migrant children in Europe to be relocated in Britain, even if they have no ties to the country.

The amendment was created by Labour peer Lord Dubs, himself a former child refugee who escaped the Holocaust in the former Czechoslovakia by train, arriving in the UK in 1939.

Saturday’s first wave of vulnerable children was welcomed by members of human rights organisations carrying balloons and placards reading “refugees welcome”.

The UK government has been under pressure since May, accused of not fulfilling promises made under the Dubs amendment.

Previously, the country only granted entry to child refugees with relatives already in the UK

Human rights organisations have accused Home Secretary Amber Rudd of failing to create a proper plan over the last six months to relocate refugees.

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Other children who arrived last week have yet to be united with their families. Some have been placed in foster care or detention units to undergo background checks.

French authorities are expected to begin the first stage of demolishing the long-running Jungle camp in Calais on Monday. Some clashes were reported between refugees, migrants and the police in the early hours of Sunday morning.

According to local authorities, the camp is home to 6,900 migrants and refugees, while campaigners claim it houses more than 9,000 people.

The migrants in the camp are hoping to cross the English Channel and reach the UK, but the British government is funding a new four-meter-high barrier that it hopes will stop them from trying. Tensions at the camp has routinely led to clashes between French police and the refugees.

A refugee sits on a hill at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

Refugees clash with local police at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]

A refugee stands on a hill at the Calais ‘jungle’ camp in Calais, France on October 22, 2016 [Claire Thomas/Anadolu]