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Funding for lone refugee children in Devon approved

It's been reported unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the UK are to receive support in Devon thanks to new funding.

Devon County Council is to receive nearly £200,000 from the government to recruit and train foster carers, and appoint volunteers to help lone children settle in.

Devon has welcomed unaccompanied children seeking asylum since 2015, when up to 70 children were transferred to the county after being displaced from refugee camps outside Calais.

Most have now been reunited with their families across the UK, the council said.

Councillor James McInnes said: "There’s an enormous amount of good will in Devon from residents who, seeing where children seeking asylum are fleeing from, are doing all they can to help them establish lives here in safety."

The funding is part of a government package worth £29m to increase support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and help them contribute positively to the local economy and society.

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