A SOUTH Cumbria MP has visited refugee camps near the Greek-Macedonian border, calling on the government to do more to help the thousands stranded as they arrive in Europe.

Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, visited the Greek villages of Idomeni and Diavata to discover the humanitarian crisis for himself yesterday.

Hundreds of refugees fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq are living in camps in the area and Mr Farron met workers from the United National Human Rights Council, Médecins Sans Frontières and Save the Children to find what the British government should be doing to help.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leaving Diavata camp now. Hundreds of families stuck here. This is no place for children. <a href="https://t.co/oDIXJBvHbo">pic.twitter.com/oDIXJBvHbo</a></p>— Tim Farron (@timfarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/timfarron/status/719909444751122433">April 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Today, Mr Farron is publishing a report on how the UK can offer safe haven to 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees which will include recommendations on how expand reunification rules so children can reunite with members of their wider family in the UK.

Speaking ahead of the report's publication, he said: "Even conservative estimates suggest there are 30,000 unaccompanied children in Europe.

"They face risks from smugglers and others who would exploit them, and at least 10,000 children disappeared after arriving in Europe. Hoping this problem will just go away is not enough.

"Britain has a proud history in stepping up and playing our part in confronting crises.

"This is the humanitarian crisis of our generation and David Cameron and his government are failing to live up to our proud tradition."