Thank you for contacting me about Syrian refugees and in particular the heart-breaking plight of unaccompanied refugee children.
Children have suffered greatly as a result of the Syrian conflict. The Government has taken the right stance on this issue by asking the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead on a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied refugee children from conflict regions. No other country in Europe is doing more than us to help try and solve this crisis.
As you will be aware, the Government is already resettling 20,000 Syrians during this Parliament, and more than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians - half of them children - have already been resettled. The UK has led Europe in its response to the Syrian crisis - and more than £2.3 billion has been pledged to the region. The Government's approach has always been about aiding the most vulnerable people - and it is for that reason the UNHCR has been asked to identify children who can be resettled in the UK. They will identify exceptional cases of unaccompanied children whose needs cannot be met in the region and whose best interests would be met through protection in the UK.
In line with our approach of not encouraging people to make the dangerous journey to Europe, all refugees will continue to come from the region. This response is both compassionate, generous, and the best way of safeguarding as many people's lives as possible.
A new fund of up to £10 million has been created to support the needs of vulnerable refugee and migrant children in Europe. The fund will include targeted support to meet the specific needs of unaccompanied and separated children who face additional risks. The support will include identifying children who are in need, providing safe places for at risk children to stay, a database to help trace children to their families, and services such as counselling and legal advice.
The Government has also committed to providing further resources to the European Asylum Support Office to help in "hotspots" such as Greece and Italy to help identify and register children at risk on first arrival in the EU. The UK has already sent experts to both countries to assist with the ongoing situation and the Home Secretary has asked Kevin Hyland, the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, to visit the area and assess what more can be done to ensure unaccompanied refugee children are protected from traffickers. We are also working to identify children in Italy and Greece with a direct family link to the UK.