Game of Thrones star slams UK treatment of refugees

British Actress Lena Headey - best known for her role as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones - has slammed the British government's "shameful" treatment of refugees.

Headey took to Twitter on Sunday to speak out against the treatment of people seeking safety in the UK.

The actress has been filming for The Flood - an upcoming drama in which she plays a British immigration officer who determines the fate of asylum seekers.

"I am truly at a loss. We are leaving insane numbers of displaced people without food. shelter. Protection," Headey tweeted while sharing a story about children being sexually assaulted in Greek migrant camps.

"The vulnerable are wide open with nowhere to go. Children being raped after making journeys to keep them from dying," she added.

"I'm ashamed to be a citizen of a country that doesn't take enough care of its own vulnerable people... I feel utterly at a loss when we turn our backs on those who need it most."

Headey was one of several Game of Thrones stars - including Liam Cunningham and Maisie Williams - who visited Syrian refugee camps in Greece last summer.

The British government has come under fire for not pledging to take in enough refugees.

In February, the government announced it would limit to 350 - instead of 3,000 - the number of unaccompanied young migrants who would be admitted from Europe.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd argued that the scheme was encouraging children to travel to Europe and that Britain had accepted thousands of others from camps bordering war-torn Syria.

Prime Minister Theresa May has also made "tackling immigration" one of her priorities since taking office in July after the UK voted to leave the EU.

Last October, French authorities cleared a squalid camp for refugees near the Calais port by the Channel which separates the two countries.

It was populated by thousands of migrants who hoped to reach the UK.

The "Jungle Camp's" population - many fleeing war in Sudan, Iraq or Afghanistan - were dispersed around France. Children with family in the UK were assured that authorities would help them travel to reach them.

A first wave who arrived in the UK shortly afterwards sparked outrage in the right-wing press, with opponents questioning the age of some of the children who appeared to be teenagers or older.