Jewish group says David Cameron’s plan to take in refugee children ‘lacks boldness of Kinderstransport’

More than 400 Jewish community members have signed a petition from JCORE calling on the Prime Minister to take in the lone refugee children, who have become separated from their families as a result of the refugee crisis.

JCORE's executive director, Dr Edie Friedman, said the government’s announcement was “deeply disappointing” and “lacked the boldness of the Kindertransport.”

She said: “A day after Holocaust Memorial Day, the government announced that particularly vulnerable child refugees without parents or guardians would be resettled in the UK from refugee camps, while unaccompanied minors in Italy and Greece who have family in the UK may be able to come to the country to have their asylum claims processed.

“With as many as 26,000 unaccompanied minors in Europe today the needs of many of those children will not be met by this announcement.”

Early reports from the Home Office suggest a few hundred lone children will be brought to the UK in total from Syrian refugee camps.

The government also announced that a £10 million fund would be set up to support young refugees in Europe, something JCORE said had “the potential to make a real difference”.