Thank you for contacting me about Syrian refugees.
This issue is clearly the biggest challenge facing countries across Europe today, and I share your deep concern about the plight of the Syrian people fleeing the terror of Assad and ISIL, which has seen more than 11 million people driven from their homes. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year and Britain must, and will, continue to be at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
Ours is a country of extraordinary compassion, we stand up for our values and we help those in need. We have seen this throughout history. Some will remember the Vietnamese ‘Boat People’ crisis in the late 70’s. In 1979, I joined our local Round Table, Lions and Rotary clubs to collect donated beds, fridges, cookers etc for the ‘boat people’. We drove round Northwich in a Roberts bakery van and it was wonderful to see the generosity of local people. In 1979 we wanted to help in a practical way, we wanted to show we cared and that we were standing by those who had lost everything through terrible conflict. Once again the kindness and warmth of the British people is demonstrated with many many donation points and fundraising efforts happening right now across Weaver Vale, and indeed the whole country.
This is of course in addition to what Britain is already doing nationally. Money from our taxes is being used to alleviate poverty and suffering in the countries blighted by this crisis. We are the only major country in the world that has kept the promise to spend 0.7% of our GDP on aid. We are already the second largest bilateral donor of aid to the Syrian conflict, including by providing more than 18 million food rations, giving 1.6 million people access to clean water and providing education to a quarter of a million children. We recently announced a further £100 million, taking our total contribution to over £1 billion. That is the UK’s largest ever response to any humanitarian crisis.
Some £60 million of the additional funding will help Syrians who are still in Syria. The rest will go to neighbouring countries—Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon—where Syrian refugees now account for a quarter of the population. More than half of the new funding will support children, with a particular priority placed on those who have been orphaned or separated from their families. No other European country has come close to this level of support. Without Britain’s aid to the camps, the numbers attempting the dangerous journey to Europe would be very much higher.
The whole country can be proud of the role we are playing in supporting the Syrian people at a time of great crisis. But the only way for the violence and suffering to end is by pursuing a comprehensive approach that tackles the causes of the problem as well as the consequences. That means helping to stabilise the countries from which the refugees are coming, seeking a solution to the crisis in Syria, pushing for the formation of a new unity Government in Libya and exposing the criminal gangs who are profiting from this human tragedy.
I believe we have a moral responsibility to help those displaced by the ongoing conflict in Syria, and I am glad that the UK is to provide resettlement to thousands more Syrian refugees. These refugees will come from camps bordering Syria, to discourage people from making the perilous journey to Europe. Since this crisis began we have granted asylum to nearly 5,000 Syrians and their dependents, offering them safety, security and the chance of a future.
On Radio 4’s PM show on Tuesday 22nd Sept independent experts were interviewed about this crisis. One of them – Sir Paul Collier (currently adviser to the Strategy and Policy Department of the International Monetary Fund, advisor to the Africa region of the World Bank and whose research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural-resources rich societies) said this of David Cameron’s response to the crisis:
“The present arrangement of saying have you got the money to pay a crook for a place on a boat, do you want to risk your neck and the neck of any family you want to bring with you. If you do all that and get yourself to Germany then you’re welcome. That is so irresponsible it’s hard to believe that’s happening but it is. I think the British government has a better idea on refugees which is to say, the refugees we take we’ll take directly from the refugee camps so you get people who are much needier. It is much more responsible to recruit from the camps.”
Of course some people sadly are still making the journey across dangerous seas to Europe, and in these instances I am proud that we are playing our part in saving lives in the Mediterranean, where our Royal Navy has now rescued over 6,700 people.
Britain is a caring country full of caring and compassionate people and we will always strive to help those in need.
I hope you have been reassured by my response. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
