8. What is the Welsh Government doing to safeguard unaccompanied refugee children who have recently arrived in Europe?

Immigration is a non-devolved matter, but the UK Government has recently announced a scheme to resettle some children from camps in Europe, and we’re working with local authorities across Wales to prepare for this.

Thank you. We’ve all watched the crisis unfold, with a dramatic rise in the number of children on the move in Europe. According to Save the Children, they now make up one in three of those numbers this year, compared to one in 10 last year. It’s fairly obvious that, for those children, the risks of staying at home are greater than facing the dangers of being on the move. Some of those dangers are a risk of violence to them, trafficking, or even drowning on their journey within or without Europe. It’s good to see that the UK Government has finally backed down on its refusal to accept child refugees into Britain, but that promise is somewhat vague in terms of its delivery. So, could I ask you, First Minister, if the Welsh Government is in communication with the Home Office about how many children might be offered accommodation or safe sanctuary here in Wales, and what funding would be available, or made available, to both the Welsh Assembly and also Welsh councils to offer those places to those children?

I can say that we established, as the Member will know, a ministerial Syrian refugee taskforce in November of last year. That is supported by an operations board to help co-ordinate the response, and a children’s sub-group of that board has been established specifically to ensure co-ordination for resettling refugee children and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children across Wales. We take the view, of course, that whilst we are happy to resettle people who are refugees, this is a matter that requires financial assistance from the UK Government. So, that is the position that we’ve always taken, and that remains the position.