Children From The Calais “Jungle” Arrive In The UK

Around 200 children from the Calais "Jungle" have arrived safely in the UK since Monday, according to charity Citizens UK. However, this figure represents just 15% of the estimated 1,300 children who have been living at the huge refugee camp. The BBC reports that French officials are now due to start dismantling the camp on Monday morning. Although sections of the right-wing media have stoked controversy by questioning whether some teenage refugees arriving in the UK are really under 18, Citizens UK reports that children arriving in Croydon have received a warm welcome from the British public. The charity's tweets show a crowd gathered outside the south London immigration office holding a "refugees welcome" banner.

The BBC reports that between 50 to 70 of the children who have arrived in the UK are due to be taken to a hostel in north Devon on either Sunday evening or Monday morning. Devon County Council has said the priority will be to provide a safe space where these "vulnerable" and "exhausted" young people can stay before being reunited with family member or relocated elsewhere in the UK. The unaccompanied child refugees from the Calais "Jungle" are eligible to come to the UK under the Dubs amendment. Among the first to arrive was Shamsher Sherin, the 13-year-old boy who appeared in a widely-circulated video of singer Lily Allen's trip to the Calais refugee camp.