On Wednesday, 19th October, the Hammersmith and Fulham Council voted in favour of accepting refugee children from Calais camp into the borough. The motion was presented ahead of the demolition of the Calais camp, in northern France.
Lord Dubs, who is also a Hammersmith and Fulham resident, has campaigned for months to pass the Dubs Amendment, which recognizes the rights of the unaccompanied minors to claim asylum in the UK. In the latest census of the camp, Help Refugees has revealed that there are currently 1,300 unaccompanied minors in Calais and their average age is 13.9 years old.
Since September 2015, Hammersmith and Fulham Council has pledged their commitment to help refugees and to resettle vulnerable families under the government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme. Wednesday’s decision is a great step forward to helping more refugees.
You can read in more detail about the meeting on our Medium site