Let Scotland take more child migrants, MPs to be told

Scottish local authorities want to take more unaccompanied child refugees from camps in Europe, the children's commissioner for Scotland will tell MPs today.

Scotland's children's commissioner Tam Baillie has criticised the Home Office decision to cap the number of lone children brought to the UK. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

Tam Baillie criticised the Home Office decision to cap the number of lone children brought to the UK from camps across Europe at 350, saying the government let people believe 3,000 would be allowed in.

Ministers are under intense pressure to re-open the Dubs scheme, named for the Labour peer and Kindertransport refugee who championed an amendment to legislation last year that opened the channel for unaccompanied minors without family in the UK.

“They should be held to account on what is already a very weak position the government has taken. We should be taking the lead,” said Mr Baillie, who appears before an emergency session of the Commons home affairs committee today.

“You witness the outrage when children are being washed up on beaches, and progressively our response to that has become weaker and weaker.”

Mr Baillie added that Scottish local authorities “want to play their part”, but said more funding was needed, as well as better coordination between the Home Office, the Scottish government and councils.