The UK's most senior religious leaders have come together urging Theresa May to allow almost 400 refugee children from the 'Jungle' camp into the UK.
The camp near Calais is set to be destroyed before the end of this year with its 9,000 inhabitants dispersed around France. The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams joined Muslims and Jewish faith leaders to sign the open letter to the Prime Minister.
It tells May the camp is a "stain on the conscience of both France and Britain" and calls on her to allow 397 child refugees in the camp to be welcomed to the UK.
"We are now just days away from the start of the full demolition of the Calais camp," they write.
Charities working in the camp estimate there are about 1,000 unaccompanied child refugees in the camp, about 400 of who are eligible for UK resettlement.
Children as young as eight "have fled conflict and persecution [and] are now stuck in northern France, deeply traumatised and at great risk, as well-documented by the anti-slavery commissioner you yourself appointed while home secretary", the letter read.
"In haste to clear it, the need to protect children is even more paramount," it continued.
"During the last such demolition, the charity Help Refugees documented that 129 children went missing. The time to act is now."
Lord Williams was joined by the Muslim Council of Britain general secretary Harun Rashid Khan and Laura Janner-Klausner, the senior rabbi to the Movement of Reform Judaism.
The letter, organised by the charity Citizens UK, was also signed by a number of Anglican bishops including the Right Rev Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Peter Hill, Bishop of Barking, the Right Rev Adrian Newman, Bishop of Stepney and the Right Rev Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark.
