Dorset MPs all voted no to giving asylum to child refugees

The proposal and vote to let unaccompanied children in to the UK from Europe was taken in the House of Commons this week.

The vote saw the bill rejected by 294 votes to 276.

Last week it was announced that up to 3,000 refugees will be taken in by the UK from the Syria region by 2020.

Campaigners, however, are calling for 3,000 unaccompanied children who have already made it into Europe to be allowed in to the UK.

South Dorset MP, Richard Drax said: "The government stance is that we’ve got to discourage these refugees from making these perilous journeys across the oceans to countries like ours.

“If you start taking in refugees that’s not going to act as a deterrent which is what Europe is trying to do.

“We are taking in 20,000 refugees over the period of this government. We’re doing more than our fair share as far as other European nations are concerned.”

Mr Drax added that more education is needed in the home nations of refugees and more safe places need to be put in place in the countries nearby rather than them having to travel across continents.

Christchurch MP, Christopher Chope said refugees living in the region of Syria were "in greater need" than those who were already in Europe.

"Those are in, by definition, 'safe countries'. 

"We don’t want to encourage people to think the only way to resettle refugees is by making the perilous journey into Europe by sea.

"Wherever they are in Europe, they are under European rules, so they should try to apply for asylum in the place where they are, whether it be Hungary or Macedonia."

"Unaccompanied children can apply for asylum in the country which they are in. If they’ve an established family connection in the UK, under the asylum rules, we will accept them.

"This is the responsible and civilised way of helping refugees," he added.

Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, said: “As David Cameron said in Chamber, it is deeply wrong and offensive to our neighbours somehow to compare children or adults who are in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal or Greece – all safe European countries - with children stuck in Nazi Germany, as some have sought to do.

“He was absolutely clear that any unaccompanied child who has direct family in Britain, on claiming asylum under the Dublin regulations, can quite rightly come to Britain.”

He continued: “The government’s focus has been, and continues to be, on how it can play the most effective role in an extremely difficult situation and not make matters even worse or lead to inadvertent consequences where people traffickers encourage more children to put their lives at risk by making the dangerous sea crossing to Europe. 

"That is why we are taking 3,000 children, principally unaccompanied and at risk, direct from refugee camps in the Middle East and North Africa, where many of them have no hope whatever for the future, lacking the strength or resources to try and make it to Europe.”

And MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, Michael Tomlinson echoed the views expressed by Mr Burns, Mr Chope and Mr Drax, adding: "We should be proud of what we are doing in relation to this crisis. We are helping the most vulnerable, including children, from the Syrian region.

"I'm absolutely not unsympathetic about refugees currently in Europe, but we have to act with our head, not our heart.

"They are all entitled to register for asylum in France. We have to make sure we are looking after the most vulnerable and make sure we don't encourage people to make this perilous journey. It's that we're seeking to avoid."