Today I went to the Grande-Synthe refugee camp, near Dunkirk, and the emergency refugee camp in Calais, in northern France.
The plight of thousands of refugees in Calais and Dunkirk, destitute and forced to live in inhuman conditions, is an affront to our common humanity which demands action by both France and Britain.
We must reach out the hand of humanity to the victims of war and brutal repression. Along with other EU states, Britain needs to accept its share of refugees from the conflicts on Europe’s borders, including the horrific civil war in Syria.
We have to do more. As a matter of urgency, David Cameron should act to give refuge to unaccompanied refugee children now in Europe – as we did with Jewish Kindertransport children escaping from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s.
And the government must provide the resources needed for those areas accepting refugees – including in housing and education – rather than dumping them in some of Britain’s poorest communities.
