Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to accept into the UK refugee children from Syria who are travelling unaccompanied within Europe.

We have been consistently clear that the relocation of asylum seekers between Member States is the wrong thing to do. It will act as a ‘pull factor’ and does not address the underlying issues.

We are not persuaded of the need to make an exception for children as they are on the territory of Member States who have duties to protect and support them.

The UK is committed to supporting the most vulnerable in the region through our humani-tarian response to the crisis as well as our commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrians in need of protection, including children, through our Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme.