The first group of children refugees from Calais camp reunite with families in the UK

A first group of children refugees from the Calais camp has arrived in the UK to be reunited with their families.

The 14 minors, aged 14 to 17, arrived at an immigration facility in south London on Monday, where they will be screened and processed by the Home Office before joining their families.

Asif Khan, a 25-year-old chef who has been living in the UK for 11 years having fled Afghanistan, said his brother, Aimal Khan, 14, was among those coming to Britain, after spending six months in the camp known as "The Jungle."

He spoke of his joy and relief at being reunited with his brother. "His journey was so difficult, it was by walking, by bus to Calais," Khan told the Press Association. "He gets a new life now, because there are many people who died in Calais."

In September, a 14-year old Afghan boy died trying to board a lorry to the UK to be reunited with his brother in Manchester. He had reportedly completed his application process to join his family, but due to some delays in the processing of his application, he is believed to have attempted to enter the country using the lorry at night.

More children are due to arrive from France over the next few days and weeks. 140 unaccompanied children have so far been identified as having the right to be transferred to the UK for family reunification. The Home Office said it is working with French authorities, NGOs and charities to identify children who are eligible under the 'Dubs amendment' of the Immigration Act, which commits Britain to take in 3,000 vulnerable migrant children.

The amendment was tabled by Labour politician Alf Dubs, a former child refugee from Czechoslovakia who arrived in the UK with the "kindertransport" of Jewish children in 1939.

The Calais camp is due to be demolished by the end of the year. "No child must be left behind in the chaos of demolition," Dubs said "Looking ahead, we must never allow a repeat of Calais."

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he hoped the children's arrival would be welcomed regardless of the public's view on migration. "There really is no case for sending vulnerable children back into situations where they're profoundly at risk. And I think the British public understands that," Williams said. "When people see the individual faces of children they think 'Well, we can't say no."

But the reactions to the arrival of the first children refugees have not all been positive. Right-wing politicians, including MP David Davies and Nigel Farage, have led a wave of negative comments on social media questioning the age of the minors who have arrived in the country.