Some 95,000 unaccompanied children are now in the EU. Europol, the EU’s criminal intelligence agency, estimated in January 2016 that 10,000 children had gone missing after arriving in Europe, warning that many had been taken by criminal gangs.
Urgent action is needed to persuade the UK government to offer some 3,000 of these child refugees safe haven from hunger, pain and exploitation.
Last week Mr Cameron’s Tory government defeated by a slim margin 294 to 276 the immigration bill amendment to let 3,000 unaccompanied minors into UK.
Lord Lou Dubs a Labour peer who himself was saved as a child refugee in the 2nd World War has now tabled an alternative proposal, which will be debated in the Lords on Tuesday 3rd May.
The Dubs proposal may then be debated in Parliament next week. In order to bring pressure on Mr Cameron, Lord Dubs has launched an online petition which has “caught the public’s imagination” which we all can sign. Over 63,000 have signed this so far. If the petition gets 100,000 signatures then its subject “Britain must not turn its back on child refugees in Europe “ will be debated in parliament in a more forceful manner. To help save thousands of these vulnerable children you must please urgently get involved.
Allowing children to suffer and be exploited by criminal gangs in the EU is totally unacceptable and questions our humanity. We live in the 6th Wealthiest nation in the world, please join-in urgently.
Actions you can carry out immediately to help:
Sign the petition. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/128833/signatures/new
Get your family and friends to sign it. Furthermore, you can help to spread its message via twitter, facebook and any other social media you are involved in.
Use hashtag #3000children to write tweets a number of times every day, why you wish the government to accept more refugee children in the UK. RT others tweets on this subject.
If you can please tweet #IwillHouseARefugeeChild if enough people can genuinely house a child, then the government has no moral grounds on which not to allow refugee children into the country.
Write to the Prime Minister stating that you wish for more Child refugees to be allowed into the UK. Encourage your children to write or send a postcard to the PM, under your supervision.
If your MP voted against allowing refugee children into the UK, then immediately write to them voicing your concern and ask for a 10 minute meeting in the MP’s weekly surgery to discuss this matter. Remember your MP will need your vote at the next General Election.
If your MP voted for allowing #3000children into the UK then congratulate them via email or letter. Let them know you support them and they are speaking for you.
Actions you can carry out over the next few weeks to help:
Get together with family friends, work colleagues or your community groups and collect money, clothes, medicines etc which can be delivered to EU countries such as Greece where tens of thousands of refugees including thousands of child refugees are in need of urgent help and assistance to be saved from criminals.
UKUnited4Refugees will be organising for a road trip or shipping containers to deliver these items to Greek refugee hotspots towards the end of June 2016. Date to be confirmed. How this is going to work will be detailed here. Please get in touch if you are organising in your community and let us know what you are doing. So we can plan how best to help save refugee children.
Shafique Azam
London UK
FB: UKUnited4Refugees
Twitter: @ShariaTimes3
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