It is hard not to feel for the millions of Syrians suffering in their country’s civil war. Basher al-Assad’s dictatorial regime ( which he inherited as a result of primogeniture) has killed around 160,000 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Thousands of those are children. This bloody conflict has also caused approximately nine million Syrians to flee their homes. About 2.5 million of those have fled to neighbouring countries like Turkey and Jordan while the rest are in camps in Syria, uncertain about whether they will return to their homes.

Many Syrians are not optimistic about returning to their homeland. Assad’s forces are gaining the upper hand and an armistice is unlikely. It is critical therefore, that Britain does what it has done for hundreds of years and allow more Syrian refugees into the country.

Neighbouring countries are unable to cope with the influx. Iraq is as unstable as it has been since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The majority Sunni-led fight against Bashar al-Assad has emboldened Iraq’s Sunni minority, which has claimed it is being discriminated against by the government and politically marginalised. Israel is particularly worried about a change in the Syrian regime. But there’s also a chance that President Assad will attack Israel in a last-ditch attempt to rally support in Syria and among the Arab world. Jordan has taken in 600,000 refugees, Lebanon has taken in more. This is costing the two countries a lot of money; the Jordanian Ministry of Planning estimated the cost of refugee accommodation to be $851.1 million or around two percent of GDP.

In contrast, Britain has only taken in about fifty refugees so far. Fifty out of 2.5 million is nothing. The British government has promised to allow more refugees in under its Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, but with immigration being such a contentious issue, it appears as though the government doesn’t want to be seen as too liberal by a disenchanted electorate.

Those who do oppose  high immigration to Britain need not worry. According to the UN, only four per cent of Syrian refugees have sought asylum in Europe. Four per cent of 2.5 million people wanting to immigrate to a continent of 740 million doesn’t seem that daunting if you think about it. Our history proves that we can be very accommodating to those running from oppression. Britain’s history of being a safe haven for refugees is one we should be proud of. From 1685-1700, some 100,000 Huguenots fled to Britain and Ireland to escape persecution by Louis XIV. From 1880 to 1900, more than 200,000 eastern European Jews arrived in the UK fleeing the pogroms. We accommodated Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. We accommodated Hungarians escaping Communism, Ugandans escaping Idi Amin, Chileans fleeing Pinochet, Kosovans fleeing Milosevic and many more. On none of these occasions did “Britain collapse” or “the sky fall in,” or whatever immigration scaremongers say to try and stop refugees entering this safe haven we call Britain.

Harry Wise 

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