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| Calais: France bows to pressure on abandoned refugee children | Calais: France bows to pressure on abandoned refugee children |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| French authorities have bowed to international pressure over the treatment of more than 100 child refugees left stranded in the dismantled Calais camp, agreeing to lay on buses for those still in the area and transfer them to reception centres around the country. | French authorities have bowed to international pressure over the treatment of more than 100 child refugees left stranded in the dismantled Calais camp, agreeing to lay on buses for those still in the area and transfer them to reception centres around the country. |
| As groups of minors faced the threat of a third night sleeping rough in the largely destroyed camp, French officials arrived with three coaches on the same street in which the press and teenagers were kettled on Thursday. | As groups of minors faced the threat of a third night sleeping rough in the largely destroyed camp, French officials arrived with three coaches on the same street in which the press and teenagers were kettled on Thursday. |
| Shaista Ahmad Sheehan, the Liberal Democrat peer who has been campaigning for the rights of teenagers at the camp for more than a year, hailed the development as “fantastic news”. Concerns remained, however, after the police refused to let any independent observer past a police line to confirm that none of the teenagers were being taken to a detention centre. | Shaista Ahmad Sheehan, the Liberal Democrat peer who has been campaigning for the rights of teenagers at the camp for more than a year, hailed the development as “fantastic news”. Concerns remained, however, after the police refused to let any independent observer past a police line to confirm that none of the teenagers were being taken to a detention centre. |
| The children, aged between 11 and 18, and up to 30 adult migrants filed through the police line silently to take their places on the bus. | The children, aged between 11 and 18, and up to 30 adult migrants filed through the police line silently to take their places on the bus. |
| Lady Sheehan, who had written to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, on Friday morning calling on her to reach an urgent resolution with the French, appealed to the sous-préfet of the Pas-de-Calais, who stood on the police line. He refused to let her in to observe the group’s removal. | |
| “He told me they are under French protection now and they will protect their human rights,” she said. She added that there were fears some migrants could be “taken to a detention centre and deported”. | “He told me they are under French protection now and they will protect their human rights,” she said. She added that there were fears some migrants could be “taken to a detention centre and deported”. |
| “We cannot be sure about any of their assurances. We have to judge by the evidence we have seen and what we have seen is shambolic,” Sheehan said. | “We cannot be sure about any of their assurances. We have to judge by the evidence we have seen and what we have seen is shambolic,” Sheehan said. |
| The development comes after France blamed Britain for failing to take responsibility for the group of refugees who remained sleeping in makeshift conditions in the debris of the camp. | The development comes after France blamed Britain for failing to take responsibility for the group of refugees who remained sleeping in makeshift conditions in the debris of the camp. |
| The French rebuke from the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, came as a diplomatic standoff between the two nations unfolded over who was responsible for the last unaccompanied refugee children. | The French rebuke from the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, came as a diplomatic standoff between the two nations unfolded over who was responsible for the last unaccompanied refugee children. |
| Cazeneuve expressed surprise late on Thursday at the implicit criticism from his British counterpart, Rudd, in a statement that appeared to reprimand the French for failing to safeguard and care for the remaining children. | Cazeneuve expressed surprise late on Thursday at the implicit criticism from his British counterpart, Rudd, in a statement that appeared to reprimand the French for failing to safeguard and care for the remaining children. |
| The French government said Cazeneuve and his ministerial colleagues had “learned with surprise the declarations of Ms Amber Rudd”. | The French government said Cazeneuve and his ministerial colleagues had “learned with surprise the declarations of Ms Amber Rudd”. |
| The official statement added: “The French ministers hope … the United Kingdom will quickly execute its responsibilities to take in these minors who hope to come to the United Kingdom. This is the best way to give them the protection they are due.” | The official statement added: “The French ministers hope … the United Kingdom will quickly execute its responsibilities to take in these minors who hope to come to the United Kingdom. This is the best way to give them the protection they are due.” |
| The dispute between the two governments followed months of reluctance on both sides to take responsibility for the thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers who had gathered in Calais. France has rehoused nearly 6,000 people, including more than 1,000 minors who have been given shelter in shipping containers in the Calais camp. | The dispute between the two governments followed months of reluctance on both sides to take responsibility for the thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers who had gathered in Calais. France has rehoused nearly 6,000 people, including more than 1,000 minors who have been given shelter in shipping containers in the Calais camp. |
| The UK has taken between 240 and 300 children, and is expected to take a few hundred more. | The UK has taken between 240 and 300 children, and is expected to take a few hundred more. |
| On Friday morning, more than 100 children were still stranded in the smouldering camp waiting for French police and authorities to decide their fate. Dejected and in despair, they huddled in makeshift shelters in a school area on the perimeter of the camp with 15 British volunteers who spent the night guarding them from potential fire or people traffickers. The abandoned school is an unheated structure, made from chipboard and tarpaulin by volunteers. | On Friday morning, more than 100 children were still stranded in the smouldering camp waiting for French police and authorities to decide their fate. Dejected and in despair, they huddled in makeshift shelters in a school area on the perimeter of the camp with 15 British volunteers who spent the night guarding them from potential fire or people traffickers. The abandoned school is an unheated structure, made from chipboard and tarpaulin by volunteers. |
| Alice Sturrock, 22, from Edinburgh said: “It was a grim night. It was cold. Some of the minors had to sleep outside on the ground. | Alice Sturrock, 22, from Edinburgh said: “It was a grim night. It was cold. Some of the minors had to sleep outside on the ground. |
| “The CRS [French riot police] came in the middle of the night and were mildly threatening. They shone their torches around the children and then left. Then this morning the police chief showed up and asked us for a count of people and a count of minors.” | “The CRS [French riot police] came in the middle of the night and were mildly threatening. They shone their torches around the children and then left. Then this morning the police chief showed up and asked us for a count of people and a count of minors.” |
| It was the second night that children had been forced to sleep rough after French authorities lured them out of the camp with the promise of transport to a reception centre where they were to be assessed for potential refuge in the UK, either through the Dublin agreement or the Dubs amendment to immigration laws. | It was the second night that children had been forced to sleep rough after French authorities lured them out of the camp with the promise of transport to a reception centre where they were to be assessed for potential refuge in the UK, either through the Dublin agreement or the Dubs amendment to immigration laws. |
| However, in an extraordinary day they were instead kettled by heavily armed police and left to stand in the cold for six hours before they were abandoned and told they could go back into the camp, where fires were still burning. | However, in an extraordinary day they were instead kettled by heavily armed police and left to stand in the cold for six hours before they were abandoned and told they could go back into the camp, where fires were still burning. |
| Sheehan, who was there to witness the operation, said the British and French authorities were flouting children’s human rights: “Children have rights – family, shelter and protection – under the convention on the rights of the child”, a UN treaty declaring that all children are “entitled to special care and assistance”. | |
| Volunteers counted 113 young people who self-declared as 17 or under in the school on Friday morning, including 46 aged 17, 33 aged 16, 12 aged 15 and five aged 13. | Volunteers counted 113 young people who self-declared as 17 or under in the school on Friday morning, including 46 aged 17, 33 aged 16, 12 aged 15 and five aged 13. |
| Elsewhere in Calais, police were manning the train station, where they picked up three or four migrants just after dawn. | Elsewhere in Calais, police were manning the train station, where they picked up three or four migrants just after dawn. |
| On Thursday night they were also stopping others who had left the camp. Charities have criticised the French for closing down their migrant registration programme after three days despite evidence that they had not given enough time to process hundreds of adults and minors in the camp. | On Thursday night they were also stopping others who had left the camp. Charities have criticised the French for closing down their migrant registration programme after three days despite evidence that they had not given enough time to process hundreds of adults and minors in the camp. |
| Another volunteer with Care4Calais, who has been a prominent figure in the shepherding of children to various locations at the request of the French, said: “I don’t think they ever intended to do anything yesterday for the children. It is just disgusting what they did.” | Another volunteer with Care4Calais, who has been a prominent figure in the shepherding of children to various locations at the request of the French, said: “I don’t think they ever intended to do anything yesterday for the children. It is just disgusting what they did.” |
| The Refugee Youth Service (RYS) said as many as 15 minors were refusing to get into the buses on Friday because they did not know where the buses were going. | |
| Michael McHugh, a volunteer, said: “What is really baffling is that the NGOs and volunteers have been brushed off so many times in the past few years, and yet the state was quite willing to pass responsibility of age verification to us. This is a safeguarding concern and it should not be us taking responsibility and risking having a child left behind because we didn’t guess the age correctly.” | Michael McHugh, a volunteer, said: “What is really baffling is that the NGOs and volunteers have been brushed off so many times in the past few years, and yet the state was quite willing to pass responsibility of age verification to us. This is a safeguarding concern and it should not be us taking responsibility and risking having a child left behind because we didn’t guess the age correctly.” |
| He also raised the issue of what the authorities were going to do with refugees who would inevitably show up in the coming days, weeks and months. “Everyone likes a nice narrative, a beginning and a middle and an end, but this story is not over.” | |
| The charity said an Eritrean brother and sister of 15 and 16 had showed up on Thursday night and were separated because there was room for the girl in a female-only secure camp, but not for the boy. | |
| “I had to walk this girl up this morning, holding her hand, to the bus. She was terrified. It was the only way to reunite them,” said Dannie Fisher of the RYS. | “I had to walk this girl up this morning, holding her hand, to the bus. She was terrified. It was the only way to reunite them,” said Dannie Fisher of the RYS. |
| McHugh added: “This is far from over. There are still 1,500 children in the container camp, some of them really terrified. | McHugh added: “This is far from over. There are still 1,500 children in the container camp, some of them really terrified. |
| “There are some children who saw what was going on and were so scared they went to Paris, where presumably they will be sleeping rough. Everything about this operation has put children in danger.” | “There are some children who saw what was going on and were so scared they went to Paris, where presumably they will be sleeping rough. Everything about this operation has put children in danger.” |