Speaking out for Syrian refugees

Speaking out for Syrian refugees

Migrant Voice Director Nazek Ramadan appeared on BBC Radio Cumbria as world leaders met in London in February to discuss how to address the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

“The UK can and should be doing more. It is not just the problem of other European countries or neighbouring countries to Syria. The UK cannot distance itself from its responsibilities,” Ms Ramadan told BBC Radio Cumbria’s Breakfast presenter Kevin Fernihough.

“What the UK could do is give asylum to those who are already here. There are lots of Syrians in the UK who have applied but are being refused and asked to leave the country because they came through other European countries.”

“I went to Calais a couple of times recently and the majority of people I spoke to wanted to come to the UK because they have family already here and they’re coming to join family.”

“As we heard from your guests this morning, who were welcoming and felt that we should offer sanctuary to people fleeing war and persecution, the public attitude is actually geared towards humanitarian protection and offering sanctuary towards people. But some people are concerned because they see people in Calais and they think the situation is out of control and cannot be managed. This is also mainly to blame on European governments, including the UK government, because the situation can be managed – all of us in Europe must provide safe passages and legal routes for people to access protection.

“UK and Europe must understand that those countries that have a large number of people, like Lebanon that has 4.5 million population and more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees, it’s very important to support those countries and help them to cope with those numbers. Europe has more than 500 million people so Europe can do more and can absorb easily a million refugees. Europe needs to work together and share equally the responsibility of caring for people and to understand that the neighbouring countries that have been under huge pressure for many years.”

Listen to the interview here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g3xfn