Home Office agrees to review asylum claims of child refugees in France

The Home Office has agreed to review asylum applications from child refugees in France after it emerged that several had returned to the site of the former Calais camp in a renewed effort to make the crossing to the UK.

One teenager who arrived in London this weekend after hiding beneath a coach at the port told the Guardian that increasing numbers of children in French reception centres had lost hope of travelling to the UK by official means and were returning to the notorious site.

Responding to questions about his case, and after calls from Theresa May to assess the number of children returning to the site of the camp, the Home Office said it had agreed with French authorities to “review any new information from children formerly resident in Calais”.

Abdal, 17, from Sudan, spent time at the Calais camp before it was dismantled in October. He was then taken to a reception centre in the country while his application to travel to the UK was considered by the Home Office.