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Lib Dem pleads for refugee kids law

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT leader Tim Farron called on Britain to take in 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children in a private member’s Bill in the Commons yesterday.

The MP wants to commit Britain to helping Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan and Eritrean children displaced by conflict and living alone in Europe.

Recalling the kindertransport of the 1930s, in which Britain took in nearly 10,000 Jewish refugees escaping nazi persecution, he said the moral duty was “at the core of what it means to be British.”

Mr Farron pointed out that the number meant just five kids in every constituency.

“The UK could make a significant difference by working with UN agencies and civil society to put in place a relocation scheme for unaccompanied children in Europe, he said.

“Under specific criteria and safeguards, relocation is one of the few viable long-term solutions for the protection of the most vulnerable unaccompanied children in Europe.”

Mr Farron was allowed to bring in his Asylum (Unaccompanied Children Displaced By Conflict) Bill unopposed.

He asked for it to be given a second reading in March, but it is highly unlikely to become law without government support and due to a lack of parliamentary time.

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