Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to President Macron's new initiatives to tackle the refugee crisis.

This Government is fully committed to helping and supporting the most vulnerable refugees affected by the migration crisis. We continue to work closely with Greece and other EU Member States in respect of immigration matters. We have frequent contact with the Greek authorities, at official and ministerial level, to discuss the situation for migrants. The UK is providing support to help the Greek authorities, the European Asylum Support Office and the European Commission deal with flows of migrants, including by deploying experts and interpreters to the Greek islands as well as specialists to the EU Commission team in Athens.
The UK is also working very closely with EU Member States to support unaccompanied asylum seeking children. However, the primary responsibility for unaccompanied children lies with the authorities of the Member State in which they are present; the UK Government does not have the authority to operate on the territory of another sovereign state without permission.

We share a special relationship with France and have a strong track record of cooperating with France to manage migration and to protect our shared border. As part of the Sandhurst Treaty, signed between the UK and France on 18 January 2018, both parties agreed to further enhance cooperation in a number of areas, including migration. This includes a number of further measures in respect of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children, and a commitment to support France in its provision of accommodation facilities located outside the Calais and Dunkirk areas, such as Reception and Assessment Centres. Further information on the treaty can be found here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-01-19/HCWS415/.