Priti Patel has refused pleas to just accept extra unaccompanied youngsters from the notoriously overcrowded refugee camps on the Greek islands amid dire warnings of an impending humanitarian disaster.
The charity Médecins Sans Frontières wrote to the house secretary on 13 March asking her to “considerably improve” the variety of baby refugees transferred to the UK in addition to “facilitate the pressing evacuation” of these with continual and sophisticated well being situations.
Patel didn’t reply. As an alternative the International Workplace replied on 31 March, saying the UK would proceed to assist the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal, which for the previous 4 years has aimed to forestall asylum seekers from travelling to Europe.
Vickie Hawkins, govt director of MSF UK, described the response as “shameful”, arguing that the deal was ostensibly a containment coverage and an abandonment of the EU’s obligations in direction of refugees. “This cynical deal traps 1000’s of individuals – lots of them youngsters or deeply weak – in squalid situations on the Greek islands,” she mentioned.
“The UK authorities should cease sacrificing primary refugee rights for the sake of its migration agenda.”
Holding services on all 5 Aegean isles, together with Moria, the squalid refugee camp on Lesbos, reverse the Turkish coast, are at present six instances over capability. Humanitarian organisations have warned {that a} coronavirus outbreak within the camps, the place social distancing is not possible for a lot of, may immediate a public well being emergency.
The European parliament’s civil liberties, justice and residential affairs committee not too long ago urged the evacuation of 42,000 folks on the islands as “an pressing preventive” measure.
The Residence Workplace was contacted for remark.
‘Coronavirus would not respect barbed wire’: concern mounts for Greek camps
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It has additionally emerged that charities not too long ago requested EU international locations to assist “decongest” the Greek island camps forward of a attainable Covid-19 outbreak. Once more, the UK authorities is known to have refused to supply help, with MSF saying that quite a few EU international locations together with Germany, France, Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium and Bulgaria had volunteered to assist switch 2,000 youngsters from the islands.
Aurélie Ponthieu, MSF’s pressured migration group coordinator, mentioned: “The UK has to date not volunteered to assist the kids. These measures are symbolic; if these camps get the virus it’s going to be a catastrophe. Entry to healthcare could be very restricted.”
The authorized charity Secure Passage final week despatched the Residence Workplace a listing of unaccompanied youngsters and weak grownup refugees who’ve been legally accepted for switch to hitch household within the UK, however who are actually trapped on the Greek islands due to the coronavirus journey chaos.
Beth Gardiner-Smith, chief govt of Secure Passage Worldwide, mentioned: “The federal government can’t now sit on its fingers. We’ve a small window of alternative to evacuate all these unaccompanied youngsters and weak adults who’ve households right here within the UK ready to obtain them now at grave threat in overcrowded and unsanitary camps and settlements.
“We all know youngsters can be leaving on constitution flights to the EU subsequent week, why to not the UK too?” she added.
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