Boris Johnson’s government had reached a special deal with Athens to fly in over 50 migrants from Greece, despite the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s flight ban.
Travel between the United Kingdom and Greece suspended in March — by the Greeks — amid the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, leaving some migrants in the Mediterranean country unable to join family members who had already reached British shores one way or another.
But the British government has now, for whatever reason, made a special deal with the Greek government to fly in 52 migrants from overcrowded camps for the purpose of “family reunion” — also known as chain migration.
Britain is almost unique in the world for having failed to impose bans on travel from any territory at any point — including Wuhan itself — and for not even requiring new arrivals to undergo a period of self-quarantine.
The government has hinted strongly that quarantine measures may, at last, be on the way now — but likely not until June, and France, which is currently sending illegal boat migrants to Britain in record numbers, will be exempt.
“I hope it is only a start,” said Lord Dubs, the Labour peer who helped facilitate the flights, in comments quoted by the Guardian.
“[T]here are other children who want to join their family in Britain under the Dublin III family reunion and there are other children who are in the Greek camps who may not have family here but also need to be helped to find safety,” he added, referring to EU rules regulations which the United Kingdom is still bound by.
The 52 migrants, which according to the Guardian included people “from Syria, Somalia, and Afghanistan”, were also mostly not “children”.
Family reunion policies, particularly where migrants claiming to be minors are involved, have come under sustained criticism from migration sceptics, as they encourage would-be migrants to send younger family members ahead, generally via criminal people-smugglers, to ask as a “bridgehead” for their relatives.
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