Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an internal review has been conducted, or is planned, to look at the manner in which the Home Office responded to the closure of the Calais camp and the transfer of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK.

The UK continues to work closely with the French authorities to ensure eligible children under the Dublin Regulation and section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are transferred to the UK as soon as possible. Since 10 October we have transferred over 300 children, and as the Home Secretary told Parliament last month, we expect several hundred more children will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.

Prior to the camp clearance operation the Government focused on transferring those children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation and transferred over 80 asylum seeking children from France since the beginning of the year.

Since the clearance operation was announced and upon agreement with the French, the Government has worked at pace to process the children who are eligible for transfer to the UK. We continue to work closely with the French to ensure those children who were in the camp at the time of the clearance operation are interviewed to assess their eligibility to be transferred to the UK.

We also must ensure that the proper safeguarding, age assessment and security checks are carried out, and that it is in each child’s best interests to come to the UK. All unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have been brought to the UK are entitled to legal advice supported by legal aid. The Home Office is continuously monitoring its response to the migrant situation in France.