Only ten of 750 child migrants taken into UK from Calais last year were from Syria, says Amber Rudd
Home Secretary defends Government's refugee policy, saying asylum seekers in Europe were not the 'most vulnerable'
JUST TEN of 750 child migrants taken into the UK from Calais last year were from Syria, the Home Secretary has revealed.
Furious Amber Rudd launched a fierce defence of the Government’s refugee policy by saying asylum seekers in Europe were not the “most vulnerable”.
And she said critics of the Home Office’s approach were doing a “disservice to the UK’s big heartedness and goodwill” so far in helping thousands whose lives have been turned upside down by the brutal Syrian conflict.
She said of the 750 child asylum seekers given emergency refuge in December last year when the French demolished the Calais Jungle, only 10 were from Syria.
Others were from countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
And Ms Rudd said continuing to take children from Europe only fuelled the horrific trade of the illegal people smugglers in the Med – while failing the most at need in camps on the Syrian border.
She said: “We must now focus on the ground-breaking work we are doing around the conflict the zone in Syria.
“Let’s be clear – this is where the most vulnerable children are, not those who have made the crossing to Europe. Our work in Calais showed this.
“Britain really is doing more than ever before to help and we should be proud of this effort.”
The blast comes just days after 20 Tory MPs backed calls for the Government to take in hundreds more child refugees already in Europe under the so-called Dubs Scheme.
The Home Office sparked fury last month by closing it down and saying it would instead focus on hitting its goal of helping Syrian refugees in camps around the war-torn country.
David Cameron vowed to give 20,000 Syrians a home in the UK by the end of 2020.
It has so far resettled 5,500. The Government has invested £2.3 billion in the camps, with aid charities in Syria and the wider region.
The ex-PM also vowed to help 3,000 vulnerable families across the Middle East and North Africa.
It took a further 750 children in from Calais in December when the French shut down the Jungle.
Last year EU vice president Frans Timmermans admitted six out of 10 migrants flocking to Europe had come for “economic reasons” and were not fleeing war or persecution.
He said the majority were from countries such as Morocco or Tunisia.
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Ms Rudd’s counter attack yesterday came as the European Commission unveiled calls for member states to detain failed asylum seekers for up to 18 months in camps before deporting them.
In a stark change of tone, Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said return rates “had to be improved”.
And he threatened legal action against member states who fail to take their fair share of 160,000 "approved" migrants languishing in Italy and Greece.