The British government is coming under increasing pressure to accept 3,000 child refugees from the Syrian war, who have made it into Europe unaccompanied, sources said on Wednesday.
A group of former Jewish refugees who came to Britain in the "Kindertransport" rescue efforts of the 1930s has urged Prime Minister David Cameron to "demonstrate compassion", BBC reported.
In a letter to Cameron, Erich Reich, chairman of Kindertransport-Association of Jewish Refugees, called on the prime minister to do more to help "the most vulnerable victims" of the Syrian conflict.
He said it was "incumbent on us to provide sanctuary to those in need".
The government has said it will accept up to 3,000 refugees, mostly vulnerable children, from the Middle East and North Africa by 2020.
In September 2015, the government said Britain will accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years.
But critics believe the moves will do nothing to help the thousands of unaccompanied refugee children who have made it to Europe, but are at risk of trafficking and abuse.
Reich, who was among thousands of Jewish children rescued from Nazi-occupied Germany, said he had learned of the rejection of the resettlement proposal "with great sadness".
He added: "I strongly urge you and your colleagues to reconsider how we can intervene to help some of the most vulnerable victims of an internecine conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced millions."
--IANS
ksk/vt
