The Guardian
Alf Dubs
Last Monday the House of Lords approved by 306 to 204 an amendment to the immigration bill that would oblige the home secretary to admit 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees to the UK. According to Save the Children there are an estimated 26,000 unaccompanied children in Europe. They are believed to be mainly in Greece, Italy and the Calais area. According to the Italian authorities, several thousand of the children who arrived there last year have simply disappeared. The fear is that these children might fall victim to gangs who would exploit them as slave labour or for prostitution. In any case the winter is not over and they must be enduring appalling conditions. By taking in 3,000 of these children, the UK will encourage other European governments to play their part.
In 1938/39 some 10,000 unaccompanied children were given entry to the UK, having arrived here on the Kindertransport from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. I was one of them, having come from Prague on one of the transports organised by Nicholas Winton, who died last year aged 106. Nicky was a great man, and I almost certainly owe my life to him. He went for a skiing holiday in late 1938 and was persuaded by a friend to go to Prague and see what was happening. Following the German occupation of the Sudetenland after the Munich agreement, Jewish families fled to Prague. Nicky realised he had to do something for them. The situation became even more urgent following the German invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
At the time, of all European governments only the British government was willing to accept the Kindertransport children. Even the United States refused. The debates in the House of Commons at the time show that there were some opponents of the policy to admit these children. They make interesting reading in the light of today’s arguments.
At a time when immigration generally is a controversial issue, it is gratifying that there seems to be such widespread support for us to welcome 3,000 unaccompanied children. Wherever I have gone in recent weeks, people have approached me with positive comments about it and I have had messages from many individuals and organisations of a similar sentiment. I recently met the leader of an inner London council who was confident that there would be a positive response to requests for foster parents.
It goes without saying that local authorities would have to vet all offers of fostering, as is already the case with all other children. Care homes are not the right answer and putting refugee children into families is the desirable approach. I am confident that an appeal by government and local authorities would evoke a positive response.
Before the vote the home secretary asked me to meet her. The government’s main concern is that taking unaccompanied child refugees from Europe would act as a pull factor and encourage more to follow. While there is no hard evidence to support this argument, I feel strongly that tackling the desperate plight of children must take precedence. In any case the magnitude of the refugee crisis in Europe makes a figure of 3,000 seem very small.
What happens now? The bill will return to the House of Commons after Easter. Clearly the government will do all it can to reverse the Lords vote and will want to make some sort of concession, perhaps by offering to take a few more families from the region. Of course any such concession must be welcomed, but it should not be at the expense of unaccompanied refugee children.
I have thought long and hard about the positive response to this amendment. I believe that people in this country, indeed in most of Europe, find the refugee crisis very painful. People want to help in some way but the difficulties are daunting and there appear to be few good solutions. So when there is a proposal to help a few thousand particularly vulnerable children, people feel that it is at least something they can wholeheartedly support.
I sincerely hope the Commons will not overturn the amendment. I would like at least 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children to be offered safety in this country and be given the same welcome and opportunities that I had.
