Lily Allen 'so happy' as Calais refugee boy arrives in UK from 'jungle' camp

Arrival: Shamsher Sherin, 13, in Croydon
PA
Mark Chandler19 October 2016

Singer Lily Allen has welcomed the UK arrival of a teenage refugee who caused her to break down in tears when she visited the Calais "jungle" camp.

Shamsher Sherin, 13, who has a right to live in the UK through his family ties, was one of around a dozen children who were brought by bus to meet with Home Office officials in Croydon, today as the French camp prepares for demolition.

The Afghan national smiled as he made his way inside the building for screening and interview, and is expected to be reunited with his family later.

Allen tweeted: "So happy to see that Sham Sher made it to the UK safely and won't be risking his life jumping on to moving vehicles."

The teenager had been camped at the "jungle" on the edge of the northern French port city for two months.

Criticised: Lily Allen at the Calais migrant camp
BBC/Victoria Derbyshire/PA

During their meeting earlier this month, Allen told him: "It just seems that at three different intervals in this young boy's life, the English in particular have put you in danger.

"We've bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban and now put you in danger of risking your life to get into our country.

"I apologise on behalf of my country. I'm sorry for what we have put you through."

Allen wiped tears from her eyes at the end of their exchange, which was broadcast on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme and led to a fierce backlash from some people on social media.

The boy was shepherded into the government building as relatives and supporters waited behind barricades, some holding "welcome" signs.

The latest arrivals came after some critics argued those who arrived on Tuesday appeared to be much older than 18.

Tory MP David Davies claimed today the teenagers "don't look like children" and should be given dental checks to prove their age.

Slamming the singer, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We must not be naive about this.

"It’s no good Lily Allen turning up with tears in her eyes and all the rest of it - we need to be quite hard-nosed here.”

The SNP's Neil Gray labelled Mr Davies's remarks about the migrants' age "disgraceful".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in