Britain will take 'thousands more' refugees - Prime Minister

And Prime Minister David Cameron has today announced that Britain will take "thousands more" refugees from camps on the borders of war-torn Syria. 

In the week pictures of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean, went viral, cries for action from the Government increased.

The Swindon People’s Assembly and Swindon Anarchists have written an open letter, which has attracted nearly 100 signatures in one day, to the Swindon MPs calling for immediate humanitarian action to help refugees fleeing war, famine and oppression.

Kate Linnegar, of Swindon People’s Assembly, said: “We want to ask Justin and Robert to represent us and go to the Government and say we want our Government to get together with other heads and come to a solution.

“We don’t know what the solution is, but we want to say it’s unacceptable what’s going on.

“Something needs to be done and they are employed to represent us.

“We think they should be shared fairly among the European countries. Germany is taking 800,000 and it’s a disgrace that we are not.

“Nobody would put their children into a boat unless they feel that’s safer than staying where they are. That must be horrific.

“We are not saying they haven’t done anything right or wrong, we are asking them, please, please, to try and find a solution to this problem.”

Mr Buckland, MP for Swindon South, said the UK had been at the forefront of dealing with the issues in Syria.

He said £1bn had been put into funding refugee camps on the Syrian border, while several hundred had already been relocated to Britain in early 2014.

“This is being taken incredibly seriously and has done already,” he said.

“The message that I have to follow and give to both residents and friends in Swindon, is that we will do everything we can to alleviate this humanitarian crisis, but at the same time people mustn’t underestimate the UK is putting its money where its mouth is to help those who aren’t coming over.”

He said it was also important to consider exactly who was seeking to come to Britain and there reasons for it, without just opening the flood gates to everyone.

“This situation is complicated by other lines of migration. There are those with mixed reasons for coming,” he said. “There are political asylum seekers fleeing for fear of their lives and there are others who don’t have a miserable existence, but want a better condition of life.”

Mr Tomlinson was not available for comment.

Speaking during a visit to Portugal, Mr Cameron announced Britain will take "thousands more" refugees from camps on the borders of war-torn Syria. He said he would set out details of the plans next week.

The PM said that Britain was already "providing sanctuary" to around 5,000 refugees from the camps, and had provided around £900 million in aid - more than any other European country.

He said Britain had a "moral responsibility" to help refugees. But he gave no indication that the UK would be willing to resettle any of the hundreds of thousands of desperate people who have made perilous Mediterranean crossings by boat to reach Europe over the past few months.

Mr Cameron said: "We have already accepted around 5,000 Syrians, and we've introduced a specific resettlement scheme alongside those we already have to help those Syrian refugees particularly at risk.

"As I said earlier this week, we will accept thousands more under these existing schemes, and we keep them under review. Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of people, today I can announce that we will do more, providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees.

"We will continue with our approach of taking them from the refugee camps. This provides them with a more direct and safe route to the United Kingdom, rather than risking the hazardous journey which has tragically cost so many their lives."

Mr Cameron said details of the scheme would be announced next week, after discussions with NGOs and other partners, and Britain would act with "our head and our heart".

The migration crisis was "the biggest challenge facing countries across Europe today", he said. Among more than 220,000 people detected crossing the Mediterranean were individuals "from different countries under different circumstances", including many Syrians fleeing the conflict in that country.

The PM said: "Britain has a moral responsibility to help refugees, as we have done throughout our history. We are already providing sanctuary and will continue to do so.

"As the second-largest bilateral donor to the crisis, we have provided over £900 million in aid to help those affected in Syria and the region. We have funded shelter, food, water, vital medical supplies for millions of desperate refugees fleeing the conflict and helping them survive in the countries around Syria, like Jordan and Lebanon.

"No European country has done more than Britain in this regard. Were it not for that massive aid, the numbers making the perilous journey to Europe today would be even higher."

He added: "Britain will continue to work with partners to tackle the conflict in Syria, to provide support to the region, to go after the smuggling gangs exploiting these people and we will continue to save lives at sea," he said.

"HMS Enterprise remains in the Mediterranean alongside the border force cutters, and together with HMS Bulwark they have now rescued more than 6,700 people.

"Britain will act with our head and our heart, providing refuge to those in need while working on long term-solutions to this crisis. As I said earlier in the week, this means bringing to an end the conflicts that are driving so many to flee - including the bloodbath that has engulfed Syria."