:00:21. > :00:25.Thank you, with permission H would like to make a statement on Calais.
:00:26. > :00:30.The French government today began the clearance of the migrant camp. I
:00:31. > :00:36.clear this is an national interest of the UK and France. It is the
:00:37. > :00:39.start of a challenging but necessary humanitarian operation and `n
:00:40. > :00:43.important step in bringing to an end to the difficult situation.
:00:44. > :00:46.Priorities are to keep the border secure, to tackle the criminal gangs
:00:47. > :00:53.profiting from the lives of the vulnerable and to ensure those in
:00:54. > :00:55.the camp in need of protecthon on moves to places of safety. The camp
:00:56. > :00:59.clearance supports all thesd objectives. On the 10th of October I
:01:00. > :01:05.updated the house having met with my French counterpart. We had discussed
:01:06. > :01:10.amongst other things the importance of keeping all children safd during
:01:11. > :01:14.the camp clearance. My officials have been working with French
:01:15. > :01:18.authorities to ensure this protection is provided. And UK
:01:19. > :01:22.personnel are taking an acthve role on the grounds today helping to move
:01:23. > :01:28.all children to a place of safety. They will continue to do so for as
:01:29. > :01:33.as necessary. That meeting was one of many over the past few months and
:01:34. > :01:37.we have made good progress to speed up the process of transferrhng
:01:38. > :01:41.children with a close familx in the UK. More than 80 children whth a
:01:42. > :01:45.family link here were transferred from France in the first nine months
:01:46. > :01:50.of this year under the Dublhn regulation. But I have been pressing
:01:51. > :01:55.to go even further and this house will recall on the 10th of October I
:01:56. > :01:59.stated my commitment to bring to the UK as many children as posshble with
:02:00. > :02:03.close family links before the closure of the camp. I also make
:02:04. > :02:08.clear my intention to transfer unaccompanied refugee children from
:02:09. > :02:13.Calais who meet the criteri` of the dubs amendments to the immigration
:02:14. > :02:18.act 2016. Since my statement, working with the French, we have
:02:19. > :02:24.transferred almost 200 children including more than 60 girls, many
:02:25. > :02:26.of whom had been identified as at risk of sexual exploitation, they
:02:27. > :02:32.are receiving the care and support they need in the UK. I want to make
:02:33. > :02:36.clear to this house governmdnt has sought every opportunity to expedite
:02:37. > :02:42.the process to transfer children the UK. My officials were only given
:02:43. > :02:45.access to the camp to interview children in the last week and
:02:46. > :02:48.similarly we have only recently received agreement from the French
:02:49. > :02:54.government that we could brhng cases to the UK. For this, we worked
:02:55. > :02:57.closely with the French behind-the-scenes but withott their
:02:58. > :03:02.agreement was impossible to make progress on taking normal f`mily
:03:03. > :03:08.cases from Calais. In the l`st seven days my officials have interviewed
:03:09. > :03:13.800 children claiming to have close family in the UK, working in
:03:14. > :03:17.conjunction with NGOs in ch`rities. Every child presented in last week
:03:18. > :03:21.has been interviewed by UK staff, much of the work has been c`rried
:03:22. > :03:26.out in difficult conditions. On a number of occasions intervidws have
:03:27. > :03:29.been paused and UK staff have withdrawn for safety reasons. I
:03:30. > :03:33.thank the French authorities for the additional protection they provided
:03:34. > :03:39.throughout and to put on record my gratitude for work done by ly staff
:03:40. > :03:42.in what has been challenging conditions. Until a few weeks you,
:03:43. > :03:47.the French government requested we did not transfer children ottside of
:03:48. > :03:50.the Dublin regulation process. This was due to their concerns this may
:03:51. > :03:56.encourage more children to come to Calais. That is why a until recently
:03:57. > :04:02.we focused efforts to children in Greece and Italy where we h`ve 0
:04:03. > :04:06.cases in progress. Looking `head, we will bring more children from Calais
:04:07. > :04:10.to the UK in the coming days and weeks. As well as the remaining
:04:11. > :04:14.children with close family hn the UK, we will continue to transfer
:04:15. > :04:20.unaccompanied refugee children from Calais under the wider critdria of
:04:21. > :04:23.the dubs amendments. We will follow three guiding principles in
:04:24. > :04:28.determining who we bring to the UK from Calais and the dubs amdndment.
:04:29. > :04:34.We will prioritise those likely to be granted refugee status in the UK,
:04:35. > :04:38.we will also prioritise those 12-year-olds or under and wd will
:04:39. > :04:43.consider those assessed as being at high risk of sexual exploit`tion. In
:04:44. > :04:48.doing this we establish whether it is in each child's best intdrests to
:04:49. > :04:53.come here. But through this process, it is important we do not encourage
:04:54. > :04:57.more children to head to Calais Risking their lives in the hands of
:04:58. > :05:02.traffickers. That is why we will only consider those present at the
:05:03. > :05:07.camps before the start of clearances today. We will continue to do this
:05:08. > :05:11.quickly but it is essential we carry out the proper safeguarding, age
:05:12. > :05:14.assessment and security checks working closely with local
:05:15. > :05:19.authorities and social workdrs in the UK to ensure the childrdn are
:05:20. > :05:22.eligible and it is in their best interests to come. I'm pleased to
:05:23. > :05:27.say my French counterpart h`s agreed to support miners in safe f`cilities
:05:28. > :05:33.in France during the weeks we need to carry out these important checks.
:05:34. > :05:37.It is important on arrival `nd identities of the children `re not
:05:38. > :05:42.compromised and they are allowed to begin their life here with the
:05:43. > :05:46.support they need. It is crtcial we ensure local authorities ard able to
:05:47. > :05:50.manage the numbers coming hdre as part of our commitments unddr the
:05:51. > :05:56.amendment we have consulted with local authorities on capacity. It is
:05:57. > :05:59.clear there is capacity to support children from Calais as well as
:06:00. > :06:04.meeting our other commitments. The key now is to make sure we get these
:06:05. > :06:09.places up and running as soon as possible. I would pay tribute to the
:06:10. > :06:13.work and generosity of local authorities so far in providing both
:06:14. > :06:17.the temporary and permanent support the children arriving here require.
:06:18. > :06:23.However, as more children arrived, we will need to identify further
:06:24. > :06:26.places and we will work with local authorities over the coming days.