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Syrian child refugees 'to be deported at age 18', says Paddy Ashdown Syrian child refugees 'to be deported at age 18', says Paddy Ashdown
(35 minutes later)
Syrian refugee children who are allowed into to the UK under new measures announced by David Cameron will be deported when they reach 18, it has been claimed. Syrian refugee children who are allowed into to the UK under new measures announced by David Cameron could be deported when they reach 18, it has been claimed.
Britain will resettle up to 20,000 refugees who have fled from the conflict in Syria, Mr Cameron announced on Monday, but some may not arrive until the end of the decade and will face deportation after they’ve been in the UK for five years. Britain will resettle up to 20,000 refugees who have fled from the conflict in Syria, the Prime Minister announced, but some may not arrive until the end of the decade and could face deportation after they have been in the UK for five years.
Mr Cameron claimed the UK’s resettlement scheme would ensure that “vulnerable children - including orphans - will be a priority”. But it later emerged all those accepted under the scheme will only be given the right to remain in the UK for five years. Refugee groups and opposition politicians lined up to criticise the announcement made by Mr Cameron for being “pitifully short of what’s needed” to tackle the crisis. The Speaker of the Commons has granted an emergency debate on the issue today.
The former leader of the Liberal Democrat Paddy Ashdown said this suggested that orphans and children will be deported at age 18 having made a new life in Britain. Mr Cameron claimed the UK’s new resettlement scheme would ensure that vulnerable children – including orphans – are a priority, following in the tradition of the Kindertransport programme that helped Jewish children escape from Nazi Germany.
But it later emerged all those accepted under the scheme will only be given the right to remain in the UK for five years. This, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Lord Ashdown suggested, could mean orphans and children being deported at age 18 having made a new life in Britain. A government spokesman said that after the five-year period refugees could apply for indefinite leave to remain.
Minister in the Lords just confirmed refugee orphans and children brought in under Cameron's scheme will be deported at age 18.Minister in the Lords just confirmed refugee orphans and children brought in under Cameron's scheme will be deported at age 18.
As Baroness Stowell of Beeston repeated the Prime Minister's statement to peers in the chamber, Lord Ashdown challenged her to answer whether any child or orphan brought under the scheme would be deported at the age of 18 as, he said, was the case with existing legislation. More than 370,000 people have now signed The Independent’s petition urging the Government to take immediate action to open the country’s doors to refugees. In addition, at least 5,000 people have volunteered to provide housing and assistance to refugees. Over 40 councils are discussing accommodating refugees in their cities.
Lady Stowell responded by explaining that there was a clear legal framework applied to people arriving as refugees. A poll for The Independent by ORB finds that nearly half of Britons believe that  the Government should “do more” to help those fleeing the crisis. In his statement, Mr Cameron acknowledged the depth of public feeling and said it was right that Britain should “fulfil its moral responsibility” to help refugees.
"I'm not suggesting there are a new set of rules or change to existing rules because of this expanded refugee programme at this time," she said. “Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the Syrian people it is right that we should do much more,” he said, announcing that Britain would “resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the rest of this parliament”.
In a major U-turn, the Government announced that the UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees by 2020 after The Independent's petition urging the Government to take action to help those displaced by war garnered over 360,000 signatures. The catalyst was a in Mr Cameron said the scale and speed of the resettlement programme would depend on the advice of the UNHCR working on the ground in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, where the majority of the refugees are living in camps.
Mr Cameron told the House of Commons on Monday that the refugee crisis is the "biggest challenge" facing Europe, and that the UK must carry out its "moral responsibility" to help those affected. But he refused to set a target for how many refugees Britain would take this year, leading to criticism that he was doing too little.
"Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the Syrian people it is right that we should do much more," he said. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the 20,000 figure as “slim compared with vast total of human need”, while the shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said much more could be done in a far shorter space of time.
"In doing so, we will continue to show the world that this country is a country of extraordinary compassion, always standing up for our values and helping those in need," he went on. “In the 1930s Britain took 10,000 children in just nine months,” she said. “I am urging the Prime Minister to look again at this – and to talk to local authorities about how many more people they can swiftly help. It isn’t enough to take refugees over five years when the crisis is now.”
"Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the Syrian people it is right that we should do much more." The Green Party MP Caroline Lucas added: “The Prime Minister’s announcement amounts to letting in just 12 Syrian refugees per day until May 2020 and is pitifully short of what’s needed and of what British people want and expect. The UK should be taking more refugees – and doing so as quickly as possible.”
However, Mr Ashdown's claim appears to expose the sting in the tail of the Government's plans, which were immediately met with shock on Twitter. Mr Ashdown's post was quickly shared over 3,000 times in the space of two hours. Charities operating in the sector were more supportive, but also suggested that the Government could potentially have done more.
"What a disgusting policy," responded one Twitter user. “It shouldn’t have taken a photograph to get politicians to start to do the right thing, but this news offers a vital lifeline to thousands of Syrians,” said Steve Symonds of Amnesty International.
Additional reporting by PA “However, it does not address the huge challenge facing Europe right now – countries like Greece and Hungary cannot cope alone. Nor does it offer a solution to the many Eritreans, Afghans and others, forced to flee bullets, bombs, torture and overcrowded refugee camps elsewhere.”
More to follow Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring welcomed the announcement, but urged Mr Cameron to set out an “ambitious” timetable for completing the resettlement programme as soon as possible. Maurice Wren, Refugee Council chief executive, said the programme needed to be “frontloaded”.
The poll for The Independent found that 49 per cent of the public believe the UK should do more to help with the current influx of people leaving the Middle East and Africa, with 38 per cent opposed and 12 per undecided. However, only 41 per cent believe the PM should allow more refugees fleeing the conflict into Britain, with 46 per cent opposed and 13 per cent undecided.
Sign The Independent's petition to welcome refugees