Britain Turns Its Back on 3,000 Refugee Children Stuck in Europe‏

The British government has voted in favor of turning its back on 3,000 Syrian child refugees stuck in mainland Europe.

An amendment to the Immigration Bill, tabled in the House of Lords allowing the youngsters to seek sanctuary in Britain had been proposed by Labour's Lord Dubs, who came to the UK as a child refugee 70 years ago.

"History will judge how we respond to this historic crisis, which is of proportions that have not been seen since the Second World War," shadow immigration minister Kier Starmer said during the debate.

But MPs voted against the amendment by 294 to 276. Both sides of the debate argued that allowing in or rejecting the 3,000 children would prevent more cases of modern slavery. 

Yvette Cooper, chair of Labour's taskforce on refugees said the government had the chance to "protect the dignity and humanity of 3,000 children and to stop them falling into modern slavery in Europe."

.@kezdugdale & @YvetteCooperMP: "Child refugee vote is 'shameful hypocrisy' from the Tories"https://t.co/WUv5NGc9N8 pic.twitter.com/3tnj19eq89

— Scottish Labour (@scottishlabour) April 26, 2016​

James Brokenshire, Home Office Minister argued that allowing unaccompanied children into the UK would "inadvertently create a situation in which families see an advantage in sending children alone, ahead and in the hands of traffickers, putting their lives at risk by attempting treacherous sea crossings to Europe which would be the worst of all outcomes."

Tories vote in droves to reject plan to help 3000 line children refugees. So sad

— Alex Cunningham (@ACunninghamMP) April 25, 2016​

The reality of the situation is that at least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees have already disappeared after arriving in Europe, according to EU law enforcement agency Europol, which has warned that sophisticated criminal gangs are already exploiting the refugee crisis and its children. 

Many of the children are already in the hands of human traffickers, intent on exploiting them.

Reacting to the government's decision to turn its back on the child refugees in mainland Europe, Kier Starmer, shadow immigration minister told UK media that "the fight will go on" to help those stranded.  

As the numbers of unaccompanied child refugees in Europe who are missing increases and perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea persist, a situation described last year as "urgent" looks set to become worse and scenarios in which children are exploited become increasingly unavoidable.