UK to give sanctuary to unaccompanied refugee children
AFP
The UK is to give sanctuary to unaccompanied child refugees from Syria and other conflict zones - but will not take in those who have fled to Europe.
The Home Office says it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to identify "exceptional cases" of children in Syria and neighbouring countries who should be given shelter.
The government has said it will take in 20,000 refugees from Syria by 2020.
But campaigners say 3,000 under-18s should also be accepted from Europe.
The government said £10m would instead be given to help vulnerable minors across the continent.
Campaigners welcomed the announcement on child refugees, but Labour warned about a "false distinction between refugees in the region and refugees in Europe". Ukip said £10m was a "miniscule amount".
No figure given
The UK has already accepted about 1,000 refugees from Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme, which the government expanded last year.
But Prime Minister David Cameron has come under pressure from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and from within his own party, to do more.
In particular, he has faced calls to prioritise children who have been separated from their families as a result of the five-year war in Syria and conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea.
Mr Cameron has also been criticised for not signing up to the EU-wide resettlement and relocation scheme for refugees.
The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday that while the UK had given more financial support to refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey than any other country, more could be done.
The Home Office has not put a figure on how many under-18s will be taken in as part of the joint initiative with the UNHCR or over what period but it has confirmed those accepted will be in addition to the existing 20,000 figure.
Sources have indicated the numbers involved would not significantly increase the current 20,000 commitment.
Analysis
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg
The prime minister has been under pressure, just as in the summer months when the full scale of the migrant crisis became clear, to make more effort to help the most vulnerable among the hundreds of thousands of people on the move.
In recent days that pressure has taken the shape of calls from the Liberal Democrats and Labour, and campaign groups like Save the Children, to open Britain's doors to 3,000 children, alone and potentially in danger on the migrant trail in Europe.
Just hours after the PM was accused of a "disgraceful" tone towards those in need, calling them a 'bunch of migrants', the government has given a partial answer to its critics.
Read more from Laura here
'Welfare and safety'
Home Office minister James Brokenshire said that the government's focus would be on children whose needs cannot be met in the region and "whose best interests would be met through protection in the UK".
"The vast majority are better off staying in the region so they can be reunited with surviving family members. So we have asked the UNHCR to identify the exceptional cases where a child's best interests are served by resettlement to the UK and help us to bring them here."
The UK, which has given £1.1bn in humanitarian aid to Syria and neighbouring countries, will set aside an additional £10m to help vulnerable refugee and migrant children from Syria and other countries who have made their way to Europe.
The money, from the overseas aid budget, will be channelled through NGOs and UN agencies and aimed at children facing "additional risks", for instance by building protection centres.
The government has also said that some migrants and their dependents could be allowed to come to Britain, under the terms of the Dublin convention on asylum, where they already have family members living lawfully in the country.
'Softening its position'
The 3,000 figure was originally proposed by Save The Children, which said it would represent a "fair share" of the estimated 26,000 children who arrived in Europe in 2015 without any family.
The latest move comes amid a political row over Mr Cameron's language on the refugee crisis during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions, when he suggested Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had met a "bunch of migrants" during a visit to Dunkirk last week.
Mr Corbyn has urged the PM to apologise for his "dismissive language and tone" which he said "demeans people's suffering". http://www.bbc.com/news/
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