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Syria: UK must accept refugees as 'matter of humanity' | Syria: UK must accept refugees as 'matter of humanity' |
(about 5 hours later) | |
The UK will have "abandoned its humanity" if it does not open its doors to Syrian refugees, former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said. | |
The UK has declined to join a UN-backed programme to accept the "most vulnerable" victims of the civil war. | The UK has declined to join a UN-backed programme to accept the "most vulnerable" victims of the civil war. |
Ministers say they have given £500m in aid and insist it is better to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced around Syria's borders. | Ministers say they have given £500m in aid and insist it is better to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced around Syria's borders. |
Labour say it would be "shameful" not to offer "limited sanctuary". | Labour say it would be "shameful" not to offer "limited sanctuary". |
Only 10 EU member states have offered to take part in the UN-led resettlement programme. | |
'Token' | |
In September, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said: "Resettlement of refugees, whether formal resettlement or expedited relocation... is a vital and potentially life-saving tool for helping particularly vulnerable refugees. | |
"Those resettled may be women and girls at risk, people with serious medical conditions, survivors of torture or others with special needs." | |
Amnesty International has said EU leaders have "miserably failed" to provide a safe haven to Syrians. | |
But, pressed on the government's response in the House of Commons, immigration minister Mark Harper argued that resettlement programmes could "provide only very limited relief and have only a token impact on the huge numbers of refugees". | |
In contrast, Mr Harper said, the UK could help much larger numbers by concentrating its efforts on helping refugees in Syria and those in camps on the border with Jordan and Turkey. | |
As a result of UK efforts, he added, 320,000 people had been provided with food in Syria and neighbouring countries while 244,000 had got medical assistance. | As a result of UK efforts, he added, 320,000 people had been provided with food in Syria and neighbouring countries while 244,000 had got medical assistance. |
"We are helping hundreds of thousands more people than most other European countries and we can be very proud of that response," he said. | "We are helping hundreds of thousands more people than most other European countries and we can be very proud of that response," he said. |
"Most of those displaced want to return home as soon as it is safe to do so and protection in the region affords them that hope." | "Most of those displaced want to return home as soon as it is safe to do so and protection in the region affords them that hope." |
'Shameful' | |
But Sir Menzies Campbell suggested the government was worried about a political backlash amid public concerns about immigration levels in general. | But Sir Menzies Campbell suggested the government was worried about a political backlash amid public concerns about immigration levels in general. |
"The children of Syria have suffered grievously," he said. "Are we really saying that we cannot take a few hundred of those who have suffered most? | "The children of Syria have suffered grievously," he said. "Are we really saying that we cannot take a few hundred of those who have suffered most? |
"Are we so intimidated by UKIP that we have abandoned our humanity?" | "Are we so intimidated by UKIP that we have abandoned our humanity?" |
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Mr Harper had "dismissed the UN programme in favour of regional support, but it is not an either/or question". | |
The government was neglecting the UK's "long tradition of sanctuary", she continued. | |
"How can we ask Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon to keep their borders open or to keep helping millions of people if Britain will not do its bit for a few hundred of the most vulnerable, or if we will not even take in those with British relatives who are desperate to help?" Ms Cooper asked. | |
"It would be shameful for Britain to refuse." | |
UKIP has pressed for much tighter controls on immigration but leader Nigel Farage has said the UK should accept refugees from Syria, arguing they are fundamentally different from economic migrants. | UKIP has pressed for much tighter controls on immigration but leader Nigel Farage has said the UK should accept refugees from Syria, arguing they are fundamentally different from economic migrants. |
The UN has said more than nine million Syrians, about half of Syria's population, are in urgent need of aid. | The UN has said more than nine million Syrians, about half of Syria's population, are in urgent need of aid. |
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