A MORAY CALL for the UK Government to do more to help refugees from conflicts in the Middle East has been made by a local councillor.
Fochabers/Lhanbryde councillor Sean Morton is echoing a statement from the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, that it is time for the Government to “pull together an urgent national conference” that can work with communities and councils throughout the country.
Saying that it is time to ask cities, towns and communities how much they each can do to help, Ms Cooper is calling on every community to be asked if they can play a part in finding 10,000 places for vulnerable refugees fleeing danger – far more than the 200 reported to have made it to the UK during the current crisis.
Echoing that call in Moray, Councillor Morton said: “This is the greatest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. Walking by on the other side isn’t in our national DNA – we need to stand up for these people fleeing their homes in the face of real life horror.
“I remember well the arrival of Bosnian refugees in my primary school in Fochabers. Our community did what we could to help – and that is the way it should be.
“Moray should roll up its sleeves and help as many people as we can and governments in Edinburgh and London should help us to help. Nobody should be able to tell the Moray Council that we cannot intervene to help if it is the will of our community.
“The sad truth is, Europe is in danger of ignoring the plight of people going through exactly the same kind of trauma that Europeans have gone through before. We must stand up, one by one, community by community, to extend the hand of friendship and help save lives.
“Syrian refugees today are looking for nothing more than safe haven, just like so many Europeans before them. We cannot forget our own history, we must act.”