Home Secretary Amber Rudd has given four separate justifications for abandoning the Dubs amendment. The reasons given are not justification for Great Britain closing the door on the most vulnerable of refugees.
1. The Dubs amendment "acts as a pull".
There is no evidence for this. It is highly unlikely that foreign children and their families have knowledge or an understanding of a complex British legal framework. Regardless, only children that arrived before 20th March 2016 are being considered for transfer.
2. The Dubs amendment is leading to children using people smugglers.
People Smuggling can ONLY exist in the absence of safe and legal routes. Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International has said "the absence of safe migration options for vulnerable people fleeing war has been the single greatest factor to increase the risk of human trafficking in Europe over the past two years"
3. Child refugees in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon are more vulnerable than those unaccompanied in Europe.
This playing off of two highly vulnerable groups against each other is a distraction. Whilst child refugees in Jordan and Lebanon are undoubtedly vulnerable and in need of assistance, so too are those unaccompanied refugee children in Europe. A year ago The EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol warned that pan-European gangs are targeting minors for sex abuse and slavery. They claim that at least 10,000 children have gone missing - a number that is likely now greatly increased.
4. The 350 number that has been reached was through consultation with local authorities, thus is not the decision of the government - they are only fulfilling what they are obliged to.
The consultation process was opaque and flawed. Local authorities have not been given the opportunity to continue to offer spaces. Andy Elvin of TACT, the UK's largest fostering and adoption charity has described has described the governments claim that local authorities have no more space for refugee or unaccompanied children and young people as as "lie". He states that "When the immigration minister, Robert Goodwill, announced that there was no capacity, this was based on a complete absence of knowledge about the capacity in the sector."
Please write to your MP through writetothem.com and to Amber Rudd here.
For more information on the children who lived in 'The Jungle' in Calais or to donate visit helprefugees.org.uk