Last Friday, Glasgow Council became the first local council in the U.K. to offer guaranteed support and accommodation to refugees surging into Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn countries. The deal that was struck: Glasgow Council agreed with Britain's Home Office to take in 63 individuals from camps in Lebanon and Iraq.
Prime Minister David Cameron in September pledged to help 200,000 refugees over the next five years – a woefully small proportion of those in need – insisting that they are mainly “economic migrants.” Despite the brief public outpouring over the haunting image of a dead child washed up on a beach, which dominated the national press for a few days, many U.K. citizens are still reluctant to accept the idea of sharing “their” country.
Last month, over 100,000 activists joined a march across Central London to protest the government's treatment of refugees. Many joined the march as it passed by a rally in support of new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, seen as a ray of hope for the political left in Britain. The march's atmosphere was charged with both elation and despair – because momentum is growing, but help to the refugees simply isn't coming fast enough.
In Lewisham, the South London borough where I live, local activist David Leal is one of the organizers of an upcoming Refugees Welcome fundraising event due to take place next month. The coalition behind the event – which includes Corporation for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop The War, South London Churches Together, the Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network, and even the Labour Party mayor of Lewisham, Steve Bullock – presents a new face in Britain's effort to provide aid to those fleeing crisis.
“I went on an aid convoy to Calais (France) and was horrified by the situation there,” Leal told Occupy.com. “They're lost. They've just wandered across Europe without much idea what's going to happen to them and they end up in Calais with a huge fence and massive security operation so they're camping in the sand dunes and wondering what next. They try every night to get over the fence. There are a lot of deaths and many bad injuries from the razor wire.
“The reason why they want to go to the U.K. is that a lot of them already have family and contacts here, or been here on student visas,” he added. “There's a myth that the U.K. is okay and they'll be able to get jobs. What is actually happening to a lot of them is that they end up in Calais and stay there.”
Rosario Guimba-Stewart, director of the Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network, is concerned the situation may get worse – even for those who have already managed to find “sanctuary” in the U.K. “The proposed Immigration Bill to be debated on Oct. 13 in the House of Commons will further encourage [the refugees'] exploitation and increase their destitution and vulnerability," she told Occupy.com.
"We shall not abandon those people who put their children on boats, but let's not forget the people who are trying desperately to survive here in the U.K. These people face discrimination, racism, extreme poverty and many are suffering from trauma.”
Faces of the Crisis
One refugee, 29-year-old Abdel Rahim Ali, fled to the U.K. from Eritrea after facing a jail sentence for leaving military service. His nightmarish journey is typical of the horrors many refugees endure before managing to enter the U.K., where they face a still more uncertain fate. Ali told Migrant Voice: “My journey to the U.K. took six months and cost $4,500. I first went to Sudan. The Sudanese traffickers took us into the Sahara desert. It took six to seven days, far longer than we had been told. Our food and drink ran out after three days. We asked the traffickers for more, but they refused. Some people started drinking their own urine.”
Ali was one of the lucky ones who survived the trip. “When we got to Libya we were held in a big building for two months, at least a thousand of us," he recalled. "We were given bread and water once a day. Anyone who tried to leave the building was shot. Some women were raped by the guards.” Ali ended up with 500 others on a small inflatable boat that "quickly sank," and found himself in war-torn Libya, where he caught another boat. This part of his journey, he said, is almost impossible to talk about. “There were 500 people, but only 14 gallons of water – which we kept for the 60 or 70 women – and no food for the three-day voyage. Some people tried to drink sea water.” Ali lived on the streets of Italy for three months before getting a train to Calais, and eventually arrived in the U.K. To date, the status of his asylum claim is unknown.
"It’s extremely disappointing that Britain has so far chosen to side step its responsibility to help protect some of the refugees arriving in Europe," said Refugee Council Chief Executive Maurice Wren. "The Prime Minister must demonstrate real leadership by putting aside domestic political concerns and proving he will not turn his back while refugees are met by closed borders, barbed wire fences and tear gas. He must respond compassionately and collaboratively to ensure that refugees arriving in Europe are provided with the protection they so desperately need.”
Meanwhile, as politicians continue to pontificate, thousands of men, women and children will spend tonight on streets that are getting colder as autumn arrives, while others endure far, far worse. For Britain, the wake-up call – and a viable response to the refugee crisis on its doorstep – appears only to be starting.
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