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<p>The primary responsibly for children in France lies with the French authorities.
It is important that any children present in Calais claim asylum or otherwise engage
with French authorities.</p><p>Under the EU Dublin Regulation the UK will accept all
requests for transfer of an unaccompanied child’s asylum claims with qualifying family
in the UK and where transfer is in the child’s best interests. In order to enter this
process, a child must first claim asylum in the Member State in which they are present,
and that State must request that the UK takes charge of their asylum claim.</p><p>As
part of the Sandhurst Treaty, signed between the UK and France on 18 January 2018,
we agreed a comprehensive package to support unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee
children. This includes a £3.6 million development fund to support eligible children
through the Dublin process and ensures that those without any prospect for transferring
to the UK are informed of their options. We have also agreed shorter timescales for
acceptance and transfer under the Dublin process and a UK asylum liaison officer has
been deployed to France to support this process.</p>
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