Formal Minutes
Tuesday 19 July 2016
Members present:
Keith Vaz, in the Chair
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Victoria Atkins James Berry David Burrowes Nusrat Ghani Mr Ranil Jayawardena |
Tim Loughton Stuart C McDonald Naz Shah Mr David Winnick |
Draft Report (Migration Crisis), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 64 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 65 read as follows:
“The Government has said that it will not take part in the current EU schemes to relocate or resettle refugees. This is because it does not wish to participate in any initiative that might act as a magnet for those seeking refuge and thereby encourage them to risk taking dangerous routes to try to reach the UK. We accept this approach. In these circumstances, we would ask the Government to explain whether it is considering any expansion of safe and legal routes, such as humanitarian visas, for those from conflict regions seeking protection, as advocated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and a wide range of expert NGOs and others. The Government should also make clear how its response to the migrant crisis is providing protection for refugees other than Syrians in the UK, without provision in place for them to travel to the UK to apply for asylum.”
Amendment proposed in line 4 to leave out the words “We accept this approach.”—(Stuart C McDonald.)
Question proposed, That the Amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
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Ayes, 3 Stuart C. McDonald Naz Shah Mr David Winnick |
Noes, 5 Victoria Atkins James Berry Nusrat Ghani Mr Ranil Jayawardena Tim Loughton |
Amendment disagreed to.
Paragraph 65 agreed to.
Paragraphs 66 to 130 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 131 read as follows:
“We accept the Government’s concern that allowing unaccompanied children to join family members already in the UK might create a “pull factor”, resulting in more vulnerable young people making dangerous journeys to try to reach the UK. We appreciate that these are sensitive and complex matters and that proper account needs to be taken of the legal and safeguarding requirements in the countries where unaccompanied children are currently located. We also acknowledge that some progress is being made on this. However, we agree with the Bishop of Durham that the 157 unaccompanied children already in Calais who have family members in the UK “should already have arrived” in the UK. The Government should, as a one-off action, accept all of these children into the UK now.”
Amendment proposed to leave out the first sentence of the paragraph.—(Stuart C McDonald.)
Question proposed, That the Amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
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Ayes, 3 Stuart C. McDonald Naz Shah Mr David Winnick |
Noes, 5 Victoria Atkins James Berry Nusrat Ghani Mr Ranil Jayawardena Tim Loughton |
Amendment disagreed to.
Paragraph 131 agreed to.
Paragraphs 132 to 140 read and agreed to.
Annexes agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report be the Seventh Report of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House.
Ordered, That embargoed copies of the Report be made available, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order No. 134.
[Adjourned till Wednesday 20 July at 2.00 pm.
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28 July 2016