JUST this week the UK Parliament voted narrowly to reject moves to allow 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees into the UK. In other words, children who are alone and seeking refugee status having fled conflict, losing parents and other guardians along the way.
This was a disgraceful decision and one that shames the UK’s proud history as a place that has in the past provided refuge to people from across Europe and beyond.
Refugees have rightly found shelter here escaping from the Nazis, the Soviets and during the Bosnian conflict among others, and they made a huge contribution to our communities. The peer Lord Dubs, who put forward an amendment in parliament to accept 3,000 child refugees, was himself evacuated from Prague as part of the Kindertransport that helped hundreds of mainly Jewish children escape Nazi persecution, organised by the Englishman Nicholas Winton.
The UK’s reaction in the past stands in stark contrast to our failure to meet the challenges of the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. It underlines an ambivalence to the principle of European solidarity as much as it stands in sharp contrast to a long and proud history of humanitarianism in Europe. That is something we should all care about.
I was reminded of this on a recent visit to Athens to take part in a Conference on the future of the European Union with fellow parliamentarians. As part of our activities we were taken to a local refugee camp.
The visit was striking. Firstly Greece, with its own troubles in recent years, is one of a number of European states that finds itself on the frontline of the refugee crisis. Indeed, the states most affected by the crisis are also those with the least capacity to deal with it.
In this Athens suburb, we were shown around by the Deputy Mayor of Athens, with responsibility for refugees, Lefteris Papagiannakis. It was clear that the refugee crisis is putting an even greater strain on Greece’s already pressurised public services. Papagiannakis’s enthusiasm and commitment to his task was impressive but the scale of the challenge daunting.
Perhaps, the most impressive thing was the reaction of the people of Athens. The camp was helped in its running by an army of volunteers and donors cutting across Greek society.
The air-conditioning that will be vital in the Greek summer heat came from a local business, food from the Greek Navy, rubbish disposal from the Municipality, security from the police, books from Libraries without Borders, wi-fi from the students at the nearby Agricultural College, classes from local teachers who help at the end of their normal working day and even basketball courts and coaching from the Greek Olympic Committee.
All of this is vital in a camp that is now housing double the capacity it was built for. The value is all the more important when one considers that children make up 600 out of the 1,500 in the camp including 10 newly born babies (with more on the way).
The biggest noticeable absence in the camp in Athens and its work in helping these vulnerable refugees who have sought shelter in Europe, is from Greece’s European partners. The UK’s failure to pull its weight is particularly unedifying. At a time when the UK is asking for special deals from our EU partners we seem unable or unwilling to assist those most in need.
The SNP has continued to call on the UK government to take urgent action. Indeed my colleague Angus Robertson, Leader of the SNP group in Westminster, was the first to raise the refugee crisis with David Cameron during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Scottish Government, lead by Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister and Humza Yousaf, Minister for Europe and International Development, continue to call for greater resettlement of refugees. Scotland has led the way in the UK on practical support - launching Scotland’s refugee taskforce with £1million of funding, providing £375,000 in aid to support humanitarian activity in southern Europe, and ensuring Scotland has taken in more than 400 of the 1,300 refugees given a safe haven in the UK under the Syrian Resettlement Programme.
The European project has been a successful one and we enjoy unprecedented levels of peace and prosperity in large part due to its achievements. However the EU works best when the principle of European solidarity is adhered to. In short that independent member states work together and help one another out in their time of need.
There has been precious little of that solidarity being shown in recent years over this refugee crisis. Maybe by recapturing a little of the spirit of Nicholas Winton we can help those most in need and by showing this leadership help the EU recapture some of its reason for being.
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