The Issue: Should Britain agree to accept more refugees in line with the EU quotas?

Thais Roque, of the Oxford branch of Citizens UK

The UK has a moral duty towards refugees, Europe and its own history to accept more refugees arriving on Europe’s border.

It is unacceptable that Germany, France and Spain take in 60 per cent of the 160,000 refugees to be resettled; that the arrival of refugees on Italian and Greek shores continues to be seen as a local problem; and that the UK, the second largest European economy, only accepts 20,000 refugees over five years – the same number of refugees arriving in Munich in only two days.

The argument that the British people are opposed to a larger effort to help is not true.

To encourage their political leaders to do more, people have taken the initiative to demonstrate their readiness to accept and integrate more refugees.

Citizens UK, a major grassroots organisation, has already mobilised more than 600 local groups across the country. In less than a month, thousands of people have offered spare rooms and more than 600 landlords their properties to shelter refugees. All this, against a background of an ongoing cost of living and housing crisis, speaks for a compassionate British people.

Hyperbolic media coverage depicts these refugees, fleeing from war and persecution, as people simply trying to reach the land of milk and honey.

From an economic perspective, the arrival of refugees may help to address the problems that will soon face our ageing population. With the dependency ratio – number of dependents to the total population – expected to increase from 27 to 39 per cent by 2040, young people are needed. The fact that many of those seeking asylum are young people could make a major contribution.

The UK is ready to accept its fair share of the obligation to protect those for whom Europe is the last hope. To fulfil this, Europe has to act as a unit, in a “decisive manner that conforms to its values”, as stated by the French government.

If David Cameron continues to betray the British tradition of offering sanctuary to those in need, the UK – represented by its active citizens – should ask for an EU-imposed quota as the minimum number of migrants we should take in.

NO

UKIP Oxfordshire constituencies organiser Dickie Bird

The United Kingdom has historically always helped those in danger, and as a first world nation we still hold a moral responsibility to help those in need.

In June 1990 the Dublin Regulation was signed by member states of the EU, and its terms are now being blatantly disregarded by some member states.

So we now find ourselves facing pressure from the EU power houses of Germany and France to implement a quota system for migrant relocation, something that in my view is simply not tenable.

How can we trust the EU Parliament and leaders to get this right, especially when the newer EU member states and those who are courting membership seem to be strengthening their own domestic borders.

So much for “the free movement of people”.

During 1999/2000, I was serving in Kosovo with the Nato-led operation to implement peace on a warring nation.

During this conflict there were refugees from both sides – I have seen first-hand the worry, stress and fear of those fleeing for their lives.

My involvement was a rather grandiose title of G3CMO which translates as Civil/Military operations and this brought me into daily contact with the refugees, NGOs, the UN and Nato forces. By all working together, we were able to process safely those who wished to be relocated and to provide the necessary means for those who wished to remain and rebuild.

We as a nation must “do our bit”, but we need to process refugees as close to the problem area as is safe.

We have proved in the past that we are able to do this when we work closely with the UN and NGOs and we must follow this methodology once more, as we are doing to a degree in Syria, but we need to extend this area of operation.

Only by following such measures can we ensure that all security protocols are carried out prior to safe relocation.

Finally this is NOT just a European or British problem; this is a worldwide problem that will only be resolved by worldwide participation.