Thursday 3 September 2015

3.) Sat on their hands whilst refugees have drowned.

This summer has seen a huge number of people fleeing their home countries for a place of safety. The planet is facing its biggest refugee crisis since the second world war, with almost 60,000,000 people displaced from their homes.
      Their desperation has been manifested in the overcrowded boats crossing the Mediterranean, and the increasingly inventive ways that these people have attempted to reach somewhere safe, including one man wedging himself into a car engine.

The whole of Britain has watched this crisis unfold in the press, with particular attention given to the 'Jungle' camp at Calais, where exhausted people who have travelled for thousands of miles face a British government seemingly devoid of compassion or a willingness to help.

The language used by Cameron & his government has been shameful, labelling the people fleeing war as a "swarm", and his entire focus has been on constructing fences and deploying security teams to prevent the refugees from entering the UK.

In a recent interview, Cameron said: "We have taken a number of genuine asylum seekers from Syrian refugee camps."

Well that's helpful Dave, but which number?

 Bearing in mind there are roughly 4 million Syrians who have fled the country, what number has Cameron's government has granted asylum to via its 'Vulnerable Person Relocation programme'?

216.
Just two hundred and sixteen Syrians have been relocated to Britain, a paltry number in the face of such huge disruption.

More have been granted asylum after first reaching the UK, despite the governments best efforts to keep them out, but it begs the question... Why the fuck is our Prime Minister not responding to this crisis with a clear objective of preventing the unnecessary deaths of more innocent people?

The images of that dead Syrian boy washed up on the beach have done so much to turn public opinion in favour of doing more to help the refugees. It's sad that it takes harrowing images to shock the public and much of the media into having a conscience. The Sun, which before has given a platform to Katie Hopkins labelling the refugees as cockroaches, is calling for Cameron to help the very same people.

Cameron has now made some noises about stepping up efforts to house refugees, after a hugely successful petition, but it is unlikely to be anywhere near the numbers we need to play our part in relieving this crisis.

He runs the risk of his legacy being tainted by his failure to act to prevent further tragedy, that along with increasing our debt, pushing hundreds of thousands into foodbankswithdrawing support for the disabled, & selling off public assets on the cheap to his mates.

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