UK to Resettle 3,000 Refugee Kids, Excludes Those in Europe

The United Kingdom announced plans Thursday to take in up to 3,000 of the most vulnerable children and their families from conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa by 2020.

RELATED: 
Oxfam Attacks UK, Other Rich Nations on Syrian Refugee Crisis

The scheme, drawn up in coordination with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, is aimed at children deemed at risk of child labor, forced marriage and other forms of abuse or exploitation.

It will affect children on their own and those accompanied by relatives or carers, and will see several hundred people resettled in the coming year, the Home Office interior ministry announced.

However, the plan received criticism because it does not include children who have already risked their lives and arrived in Europe. The plan would resettle children refugees of any nationality who are in camps in Middle Eastern countries.

The UNHCR's representative to Britain, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said the new scheme was an "important contribution" to the agency's efforts to address the needs of refugee children.

RELATED:

Jude Law Peforms At Calais 'Jungle' To Decry Refugees Evictions

The U.K.-based Refugee Council said the latest plan was life-changing for a small group, however, "not good enough" when borders remain closed to refugees and drownings continue in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas.

Maurice Wren, the charity's chief executive, said the plan was “also grim news for the majority of other refugees who are desperately trying to escape conflict and persecution who the Government is try to contain in Turkey and other, poorer countries.  

“It’s not good enough to offer a lifeline to one group of refugees while colluding to close off the escape routes of everyone else — all refugees need to be able to reach a place of safety."