Syrian refugees: Britain will retain ‘ability to choose those let in’ to UK
Theresa May, the home secretary, has vowed that Britain will work hand in glove with the United Nations to provide sanctuary to several hundred Syrian refugees, while stressing that the UK will retain the flexibility to choose the most vulnerable as well as decide the overall number coming to the UK from the refugee camps.
May told MPs on Wednesday that the UK government will prioritise victims of torture, women and children in need, as well as victims of sexual violence, or those requiring medical care. Her statement was welcomed by Labour, but the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, queried why the government had held out against becoming full members of the UNHCR scheme in which 18 other countries are participating.
The Conservatives denied the coalition had been forced into a U-turn due to pressure from charities and Labour, but said its previous reluctance was due to fears that letting in refugees to the UK would undermine efforts to help refugees on the Syrian border. She said the coalition’s plans for emergency sanctuary had been cleared with the UNHCR in London and had its endorsement.
She said the targeted and distinct scheme would be open to those most in need but would not involve quotas, adding that it would work in parallel with the UN’s scheme. She claimed: “This is in the spirit of the UNHCR programme, but is not technically part of it. We took a very simple decision which is that we wanted to create a scheme that provided sufficient flexibility and which enables us to focus on women and girls at risk, as well as preventing sexual violence.”
In practice, the UNHCR is likely to recommend individuals for the UK scheme, but the UK will be responsible for choosing the successful candidates and ensuring they get access to the relevant specialist help in the UK.
She promised that Britain would not allow the breakup of families or the separation of children from their parents. But she said she would not set a target because the numbers coming to Britain would be driven by need and not an arbitrary number.
Whitehall sources have briefed that around 500 refugees might be allowed. Germany is expecting to take as many as 10,000.
A minority of Tory backbenchers have expressed anger at May’s U-turn, with Andrew Bridgen describing the decision as “political posturing and tokenism based on political expediency”.
May said the refugees would be “given temporary residence in the UK, with access to the labour market and other benefits in the same way that refugees would have”.
Cooper said: “Compassion and common sense have prevailed over the government’s resistance last week. We and many others have argued for some time that a minority of refugees are too vulnerable to cope or survive in the camps – abandoned children, torture victims, women who have been abused, those needing medical help.”
She welcomed the fact that May had bowed to the political pressure applied by Labour, including its decision to raise the issue at prime minister’s questions and call an opposition Commons debate on Wednesday. She also urged May to exclude the refugees from the government’s net migration target.
The former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell welcomed the decision, but said he would have preferred that Britain had joined the UN programme.
May added that at the suggestion of the chairman of the home affairs select committee, Keith Vaz, she will see if any of the £90m Syrian government cash frozen in UK banks can be used to help with the resettlement.
theguardian