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The French Interior Minister and British Home Secretary have agreed to work together to ensure the successful dismantling of the Calais camp.  A meeting on Monday 10 October 2016, focused on the strengthening of Franco-British cooperation in Calais, specifically in relation to the protection of children before, during & after the planned dismantling of the camp.  Both the UK and French governments jointly agreed that the safety of vulnerable children in Calais is their utmost priority.

Amber Rudd confirmed the British government’s support for the French authorities in order to address the humanitarian situation in the camp and to protect the shared border.  The British government will work to ensure the success of this operation, particularly in relation to 3 key points:

Firstly, in order to respond to the various humanitarian challenges in Calais, the Amiens agreement between the 2 countries of March 2016 which foresaw the resettlement of isolated minors in Calais with established family ties in the UK will be implemented & enlarged.

Secondly, France and the UK’s close cooperation against illegal immigration networks targeting the UK will be strengthened, with the aim of definitively ending all criminal activity carried out by people-smugglers.  31 smuggling networks have already been dismantled since the beginning of the year

Thirdly, British financial investment in Calais to help tackle the impact of migratory pressures in Calais – amounting to over €100m in the last 2 years – will be expanded to ensure the overall longer term security of the border and to contribute to the resettlement of migrants outside of Calais as part of the clearance operation.

Home Office:  Joint press statement from Bernard Cazeneuve and Amber Rudd

Children’s Commissioner:  Anne Longfield comments on closure of Calais refugee camp

WAG:  Joint statement from the First Minister and Welsh charities on child refugees

Unicef UK Statement: response to the Home Secretary’s comments on safeguarding refugee children in Calais

Statement from Unicef special coordinator for the Refugee & Migrant crisis in Europe

Children’s Commissioner:  Countdown to Calais camp closure: clock is ticking to protect children

Editorial Comment: Helping refugees is not the only important issue to consider when dividing the ‘economic cake

Illustrating the potential cost of ‘open borders’ for refugees