By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

LONDON, England — The first group of children to leave the migrant camp popularly known as “the jungle” in Calais, France has traveled to Britain to be reunited with relatives.  On Monday, 14 children ranging in age from 14-17 left the camp and were brought by government officials and charity workers to a Home Office immigration facility in Croydon, which is in south London.  The children were held there before being reunited with family at various locations, including local churches.

These children are allowed to be reunited with family in Britain under a law called the Dublin Regulation, which allows children with close relatives in Britain to seek asylum there even if they also have asylum elsewhere.

Aid groups praised the transfer of the children after warnings that keeping the children in the Calais camp might put them at risk of being trafficked.  Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury who has aided the efforts to transport the children to Britain, believes that Britain has “…the beginnings of some sort of response to what is still a hugely troubling and very, very urgent situation.” Williams urges that Britain can “offer secure environments for these children” as well as “a place of safety.”

The French and British interior ministers, Bernard Cazeneuve and Amber Rudd, have agreed to speed up the process of transferring children from the Calais camp to Britain.  While it is unknown exactly how many unaccompanied minors are living in the camp, the Red Cross estimates there to be about 1,000.  178 of these children have been identified as having relatives in Britain, however some are being held back from being transferred to Britain for bureaucracy reasons.

In a slightly separate process, Britain has been collaborating with French authorities to identify children who can be brought to Britain under an amended British immigration law known as the Dubs amendment.  Under this amendment, Britain will agree to take in “vulnerable unaccompanied child refugees” who arrived in the European Union prior to March 20, even if they do not have familial ties to Britain.

It is expected that dozens of more children will make the journey to Britain this week so they can be reunited with relatives.  Britain’s effort marks the beginning of its commitment to welcome migrant children into its borders before the Calais camp is permanently destroyed.

For more information, please see:

BBC — Families Speak of Their Joy at being Reunited with Calais Children — 17 October 2016

The LA Times — A Journey Through ‘Hell’: First Wave of Migrant Children from Calais Arrives in Britain — 17 October 2016

Reuters — First 14 Unaccompanied Children from Calais ‘Jungle’ Reach Britain — 17 October 2016

The Washington Post — 14 Migrant Children Arriving in UK from Calais Migrant Camp — 17 October 2016