Social workers urge governments to resolve refugee crisis
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Version 0 of 1. Social workers in Europe have declared their support for refugees fleeing their home countries and seeking a new life. Speaking on the opening day of a conference of the European branch of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), Bridget Robb said social workers wanted “to stand alongside those who feel so desperately that they need to seek a new life, and that we in Europe support that responsibility to help them find a new way of living”. Robb is chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, which is hosting the conference in Edinburgh. Related: Social workers have a duty to speak up about the humanitarian crisis in Calais Delegates from each of the 35 countries that make up the European branch of the IFSW met for two days before the conference, and discussed their response to the growing refugee crisis. Robb said: “Although we’ve been planning this conference for two years, world events take over.” She led attendees in a minute’s silence to mark the lives of refugees who have died trying to seek safety in Europe. During the silence a statement from the International Federation of Social Workers was shown, calling for immediate action from governments to resolve “the humanitarian crisis now affecting most of Europe”. The move comes amid the mass movement of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries to Europe, and the political debates about how many the UK should let in. Robb said: “Those of us who work in England have been horrified at our own government’s response of being so negative and using language that is so dehumanising.” This was met with loud and sustained applause. In a speech in July, prime minister David Cameron referred to migrants and refugees trying to reach Britain as a “swarm”. Robb also talked about the role that social workers across Europe are playing in the crisis. She told attendees: “Social workers are there at the railway stations, they are there at the ports of entry, they are there trying to support people on this human journey that people are on.” The refugee crisis was also mentioned in a speech by Angela Constance MSP, cabinet secretary for education and lifelong learning in Scotland. Constance, a former social worker, said: “Here in Scotland our doors are always open to people from overseas, and in light of the awful scenes in Europe as thousands of innocent people try to escape conflict and poverty and persecution, I cannot emphasise this enough.” |