On 9th May 2016, the House of Commons passed the revised Dubs Amendment on unaccompanied children.  The decision was made that children who were registered in Greece, Italy and France before 20 March 2016 would be eligible for resettlement in the UK.  The original plan was for the Dubs Amendment to allow around 3000 children to reach the UK who weren’t already entitled to resettlement under Dublin III rules of family reunification.  There are currently an estimated 90,000 lone children currently in Europe.

In February 2017, only 200 children have been brought to the UK under the Dubs Amendment, and the government has announced that they plan to shut down the scheme after only another 150 children arrive. Children who left Calais when the camp was demolished in October 2016 were under the impression that if they complied with the instructions they were given, they would be brought to the UK.  Many are now very worried about their futures, and are taking huge risks to reach the UK by their own means.  It’s estimated that at least a third of the children from’ the Jungle’ have reportedly gone missing from their accommodation centres, as they have lost hope in the system.  They are now lost and alone in Europe.  Others have attempted suicide.

You can email or tweet your MP here if you want to express an opinion on the scrapping of the Dubs Amendment.  It is important to remember that the original figure suggested of 3000 children would be reached if each local authority resettled just 5 children.