Written declaration No. 627 | Doc. 14259 | 26 January 2017
UK eligibility criteria for children entering under the Dubs Amendment need to meet human rights standards
In light of the dismantling of the "Calais Jungle", the United Kingdom has pledged to allow 3 000 unaccompanied minors to enter the country under Article 67 of its Immigration Act 2016 (known as the "Dubs Amendment"). Although we welcome this effort and recognise that the task of aiding these minors is not one for France and the United Kingdom alone, we are concerned about the recently published Implementation Guidelines of Article 67. These guidelines exclude any unaccompanied minor who is above the age of 12, not of Sudanese or Syrian nationality and not referred to by the French authorities as being at risk of sexual exploitation. They also exclude Syrian or Sudanese children above the age of 15 and not at risk of sexual exploitation.
We call on the United Kingdom to respect a child's right to family life and to respect its right to have his or her case reviewed in a non-discriminatory way. We call on the United Kingdom to uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Children and to consider everyone under 18 as being a child.