Minister claims UK at ‘breaking point’ as he rebuffs pleas to accept more refugee children
The UK cannot accept any more children seeking asylum and trapped in squalid EU camps because it is at “breaking point”, a minister has claimed.
Chris Philp adopted the language of Nigel Farage’s notorious Brexit poster to defend the government’s refusal to ease restrictions – despite the devastating fire at a migrant camp in Greece.
Giving evidence to a parliamentary committee, the immigration minister was told the UK must “play our part in this humanitarian crisis”, with the camps “desperate and dangerous”.
But Mr Philp claimed the UK was already allowing in “more unaccompanied asylum seeking children than any other European country”.
And he said: “Not only are we already playing our part, we are playing our part to breaking point.
“Literally, when another unaccompanied asylum-seeking child arrives, we really genuinely struggle to find a place for them because the numbers are now so huge.
“Whether that's someone that comes across on a small boat, or indeed someone who comes across from one of the camps elsewhere in Europe.”
Mr Philp also claimed the system coping with the surge in small boats making Channel crossings was “close to collapse”, forcing him to plea with local councils to accept the people arriving.
And, admitting the UK is the only European country to prevent refugee children bringing in close family members, he argued to allow that would be an “incentive for people smugglers”.
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