In a strongly worded letter to the UK government, almost 30 leading charities urged David Cameron to do more to alleviate the global refugee crisis in 2016.
The coalition brings together a range of major nonprofits, working together across the “full arc of this refugee crisis,” from those that provide humanitarian aid on the frontlines, to those helping to integrate refugees when they reach safety. The list includes Oxfam, World Vision, Amnesty International, the Refugee Council, and Greenpeace, all united in the belief that the UK’s current response is “clearly inadequate.”
After dramatic photos of three-year-old Alan Kurdi made headlines across the world in September 2015, the UK government announced it would accept 20,000 Syrian refugees in the current Parliament. This works out to 4,000 refugees a year.
For many, this is just not good enough. The joint letter comes as news arrived this week of another toddler who died attempting to reach Europe--the first known refugee casualty in Europe of 2016. With the crisis and tragedies of last year showing no signs of abating, charities have decided to tell the government that much more can, and should, be done.
“Last year's announcement that the UK will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years was a welcome first step, but given the numbers of people searching for safety across the globe, this response is clearly inadequate: it is too slow, too low and too narrow,” the joint letter says.
The UK government insists it is playing its part in the response by meeting its target for resettling 1,000 refugees in 2015 and providing life-saving aid to those affected in the Syria region and in Europe.
While the letter commends the UK for playing a key role in helping to address the situation in Syria and its neighbour states who have borne the brunt of the crisis, it also reminds the government to tackle both the causes and the effects of the refugee crisis.
“Tackling the reasons people are forced to flee their homes in places such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea must of course remain a priority. However, in the absence of peace, people will continue to flee. We must provide them with safe, well-managed escape routes and refuge,” it says.
A government spokesperson said: “The terrible images we have seen in the last year have moved us all, strengthening our resolve to help prevent more people suffering such a fate.”
Pressure is mounting on the UK to step up its role in resettling refugees. For months, Save the Children has been campaigning to urge the UK government to give a safe haven to the 3,000 unaccompanied minors fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and other warzones. MPs across all major parties have spoken in support of this campaign. In response, David Cameron addressed the issue in Parliament and asserted that he will consider the needs of refugee children “in a proper way.”
Though the plight of refugees is becoming an all too familiar story, it’s important that it remains high on the agenda of governments around the world. Over a million refugees arrived in Europe in 2015 and that number will continue to rise. This letter is a positive step and sends a powerful message to David Cameron and leaders around the world: charities and ordinary people will not stay silent in the face of increasing devastation.
Dear Prime Minister,
As a coalition of international humanitarian organisations, refugee assistance organisations, and human rights advocacy groups we ask you to approach this new year with new resolve to address the appalling plight of refugees in Europe.
Last year saw 3,770 people drown and hundreds of thousands more endure a desperate march of misery across the continent. Together, our organisations bear witness to the full arc of this refugee crisis.
We see first-hand the human cost of war, persecution and human rights abuses that force people to abandon their homes in search of refuge. We provide emergency relief to desperate men, women and children who have fled to Europe's shores. We help refugees begin to rebuild their lives here in the United Kingdom.
We welcome the leading role the UK has played in offering international aid to places affected by conflict, especially in the Syria region. We also commend the UK for providing assistance to those helping refugees in Greece and the Balkans, where humanitarian relief is urgently needed. Tackling the reasons people are forced to flee their homes in places such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea must of course remain a priority.
However, in the absence of peace, people will continue to flee. We must provide them with safe, well-managed escape routes and refuge. Last year's announcement that the UK will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years was a welcome first step, but given the numbers of people searching for safety across the globe, this response is clearly inadequate: it is too slow, too low and too narrow.
The UK can and should be doing much more to ensure that refugees are not compelled to take life-threatening journeys or forced into smugglers' hands. We therefore join leading members of the legal community in endorsing the following four refugee principles and believe that, as a matter of urgency:
- The UK should take a fair and proportionate share of refugees, both those already within the European Union and those still outside it;
- Safe and legal routes to the UK, as well as to the European Union, need to be established.
- Safe and legal routes within the European Union, including the UK, should be established.
- There should be access to fair and thorough procedures to determine eligibility for international protection wherever it is sought.
The UK, along with other European countries, must take responsibility for responding to the refugee crisis on Europe's doorstep.
Over 64 years ago, soon after the horrors of the Second World War, European governments adopted the Refugee Convention, an instrument of international law which British lawyers helped to draft. As a nation, we made a promise: that never again would refugees be left out in the cold to fend for themselves; that this country would protect them; that here, they would find safe haven. We urge you to keep that promise.