In 2014 we have been commemorating
the outbreak of the First World War, the most terrible conflict in modern
history. Not only did millions of young people lose their lives, but large
parts of continental Europe were left
devastated and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children found
themselves displaced by a conflict not of their making.
This year, in 2015 we have the
chance of celebrating the centenary of one of the most incredible acts of
humanity from the people of Malvern – when, in the midst of their own suffering
during the Great War, they opened their doors to give a welcome and a place of
refuge and safety to 500 Belgian refugees.
What better way could there be
of marking this centenary than to reach out to those innocent victims of
today’s terrible conflict in the Middle East and thereby continue this
country’s proud tradition, which stretches back centuries, of receiving
refugees. What better way of showing how much we cherish our freedoms than by extending
those freedoms to those who are subject in their countries of birth to unjust
imprisonment and torture.
And, amidst the hysteria in this
country about immigration – stoked up by those who refuse to accept any
responsibility for our economic calamity, but seek to point the finger of blame
at so-called outsiders, a debate I don’t intend to get into tonight, it cannot
be stressed enough that asylum seekers – and ultimately refugees – are not
economic migrants.
A migrant is a person who makes
a conscious choice to leave their country to seek a better life elsewhere.
Before they decide to leave their country, migrants can seek information about
their new home, study the language and explore employment opportunities. They
can plan their travel, take their belongings with them and say goodbye to the
important people in their lives. They are free to return home at any time if
things don’t work out as they had hoped, if they get homesick or if they wish
to visit family members and friends left behind.
Refugees are forced to leave
their country because they are at risk of, or have experienced persecution. The
main concern of refugees is for their safety, not economic advantage. They
leave behind their homes, most or all of their belongings, family members and friends.
Some are forced to flee with no warning and many have experienced significant
trauma or been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. The journey to safety is
fraught with hazard and many refugees risk their lives in search of protection.
They cannot return unless the situation that forced them to leave improves.
And we must remember too how
this country has benefitted from accepting refugees. It is estimated, for
example, that since 1972 30 thousand jobs have been created in Leicester alone by Ugandan Asian refugees. About 1200
medically qualified refugees are recorded on the British Medical Association’s
database. It is estimated that it costs around £25,000 to support a refugee
doctor to practise in the UK – training a new doctor is estimated to cost over a
quarter of a million. And the Office for Standards in Education reports that
children seeking asylum – who may ultimately become refugees – contribute very
positively to schools across the country, which in turn enables more successful
integration of families into local communities. Refugees want to work, they
want to contribute, they want to be part of our communities.
Some will argue that we already
have more than our fair share of refugees in the UK? The figures do not bear this
out: the UK
is home to just 1% of the world’s refugees – out of more than 15 million
worldwide. Over 80% of refugees live in developing countries, in Africa, Asia
and the Middle East, often in camps with the
most basic facilities.
Syria's neighbours are struggling under the weight of this
unprecedented crisis – more than three million people have fled the country –
and it is time we stopped asking of them what we are not doing ourselves. Ours
is a modest proposal, the resettlement of a small number of refugees. Our
government has so far agreed to take just 500 Syrian refugees and to date only
100 have arrived in the country for resettlement. That’s 100 out of three
million.
In 1915 the people of Malvern
showed their humanity when they welcomed the displaced of the First World War
and made them part of our community. It is now time that we showed the same
generosity of spirit as our predecessors a century ago by offering a place of
to those very much less fortunate than ourselves, allowing them the chance to
rebuild their lives, free from persecution.
