Govt urged to intervene in 'child protection travesty' at Calais 'jungle' migrant camp

The Government is being urged to take in unaccompanied child refugees from the Calais 'jungle' migrant camp.

There are reports that 1,400, some as young as six years old, remain stranded at the camp after French authorities began demolishing it.

The Dáil is set to debate a motion on Wednesday calling for 200 of the children to be relocated here.

Among those supporting the move is the Children's Rights Alliance.

Its CEO, Tanya Ward, said: "This is a child protection travesty on our doorstep. To have 1,400 children left, unallocated and unregistered, we'd be very concerned about what would happen from a child trafficking point of view.

"Because we know from a borader perpspective around the refugee crisis, 10,000 unaccompanied minors have gone missing."