Daily Times

LONDON: Horrified by the desperate plight of traumatised children in the “Jungle” migrant camp in France, one London borough is seeking to provide a new life in Britain for unaccompanied youngsters.

As bulldozers raze the sprawling camp in the northern French port city of Calais this week, busloads of children have been arriving in Britain. With the UK promising to take in hundreds more, local authorities face the challenge of resettling these youngsters – many of whom have fled war and poverty in countries like Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan.

But media reports say one in four local authorities have refused to take in any children of the Jungle. One London borough, Hammersmith and Fulham, has been at the forefront of efforts to bring them to Britain under the so-called Dubs Amendment passed in May, vowing to accommodate 15 in total.

While children with family ties in Britain have the right to claim asylum here, the Dubs legislation allows vulnerable youngsters with no such ties to seek refuge. Taking 15 of the 1,500 children housed temporarily in shipping containers in the Jungle may not seem like many.

But Hammersmith and Fulham hopes its example will encourage other local authorities to follow suit, as Paris and London squabble over who is to blame for their plight.