A charity founded by the late British publisher George Weidenfeld, who escaped Nazi persecution as a teenager, has offered to support financially any Christian child refugees from the Middle East given sanctuary in Britain.
David Cameron announced on Wednesday that the government would allow an unspecified number of unaccompanied minors in refugee camps in Europe to come to the UK. Campaigners say that the children face danger from traffickers, sexual exploitation and criminal gangs while trying to reach this country.
Lord Weidenfeld, who was Jewish, set up a fund to resettle Christian refugees from the Middle East in Europe before his death in January at the age of 96.
His scheme was designed as a gesture of gratitude for his own salvation at the hands of the Christian family who provided him with a home and helped him to find work after his arrival as a refugee from Nazi-occupied Vienna.
Because of the scheme’s decision to save only Christians, however, it was shunned by some western European countries. Last year the fund helped to resettle 150 Syrian Christians in the Czech Republic; there are plans to find new homes for others in Malta, Finland, Romania and Latvia.
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About 15 per cent of refugees from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are estimated to be from non-Muslim backgrounds, including Christians, Druze, Yazidis and other minorities. Relatively few of the refugees who have reached Europe are Christian. The fund stresses that the decision to support only Christians is the result of the lack of any specific provision for them and the discrimination they have faced, not due to prejudice against Muslims.
The Weidenfeld Fund has written to Mr Cameron offering a “financial contribution” towards the resettling of whichever Christian refugees were chosen to come to Britain. It is believed that it will not select those to be settled.
The fund, which is supported by donations from the Jewish community, said that it was prepared to immediately spend £100,000 on the Christian refugees allowed into Britain, and expected to raise at least £500,000 this year.
Sir Charles Hoare, managing governor of the fund, said that the money could be paid to local authorities or voluntary organisations to help meet the cost of looking after young refugees.
He said: “It was Jewish and other charities that took on Kindertransport children when they arrived. Obviously the government has grown considerably since the 1930s and it’s up to the government to say how we can help now.”
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An estimated 4,000 children have arrived in Britain in the past 12 months; each cost local authorities £50,000 a year on average to look after.