Peers defeat Government in vote to let 3,000 child refugees into UK

The Government has been defeated in the Lords as peers voted to allow 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees into the country.

Peers voted by 306 votes to 204, a majority of 102, to amend the Immigration Bill in order to require the Government to let the children, currently in Europe, come to Britain.

Labour’s Lord Dubs said the move would protect children from exploitation, people trafficking, and abuse.

The amendment states the Government must allow the children to come to Britain as soon as possible after the Bill becomes law.

Lord Dubs, who was one of thousands of child refugees Britain rescued from Nazi persecution under the Kindertransport operation in the late 1930s, insisted the country needed to show the same compassion now.

“I would like other children who are in a desperate situation to be offered safety in this country and be given the same opportunities that I had,” Lord Dubs said.

The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, said: “This is a small, but beautiful thing that we can do.”

Lord Alton of Liverpool said if Britain turned its back on such children it would be a “lasting stain” on its reputation.

The crossbencher said that the Government had done little since Europol estimated last year that at least 10,000 children had disappeared in Europe and were vulnerable to exploration and abuse.

“If thousands of child migrants have simply vanished in Europe while we have argued about how many angels can sit on the top of a pin that will be a lasting stain on our reputation,” Lord Alton said.

Crossbencher Baroness Neuberger said: “We could do it in 1930s, why can’t we do it now?”

Baroness Butler-Sloss warned the children were vulnerable and in danger.

“We must do something to stop them becoming slaves,” the crossbench peer said.

Tory former cabinet minister Lord Lawson of Blaby said children above the age of 12 should be excluded from the scheme.

Lib Dem Baroness Hamwee said with thousands of children going missing, abuse was a real risk.

The peer dismissed claims such a move could act as a “pull factor” for refugees.

“There are so many push factors that we do not need to think about the pull factor,” Lady Hamwee said.

Home Office Minister Lord Bates said the Government had pledged to take 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020, and 51% of the 1,000 people who have arrived so far have been children.

Lord Bates said the Government was concentrating its efforts on helping Syrian refugees before they reach Europe.

The minister said the amendment was not targeting the people most in need of support.

“We have a principled objection. That the people most at risk are in the region.

“I question whether it identifies, or provides help, for the right people. We believe we should not be doing anything that encourages one child to make that perilous journey.

“We are doing an incredible amount. Other countries are not doing a fraction of what we are doing,” Lord Bates said.

The minister also questioned the practicalities of the move as he said their was currently a need for 8,000 more foster parents.

Labour’s Lord Rosser said: “Doing nothing will not mean those children return to where they came from, it will simply mean that they will become more likely than ever to be exploited and abused by people traffickers and others of ill intent.”

Crossbencher Lord Green of Deddington said he feared the move would make a bad situation worse.

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