A recently emerged and deeply upsetting photograph of a drowned child has spurred the British tabloids into a near complete U-turn on the European refugee crisis. This tragic event is yet another reminder that the British establishment is more concerned with causing shock and selling papers than dealing with one of the biggest human tragedies of the 21st century.
Thousands of refugees have died while the British State shirks its responsibility to protect.
In the last 100 years of European history, the British State has taken in refugees from Spain, Germany, Hungary, Zimbabwe, and many other parts of the world during times of political extremism or war. Today however, the British establishment has become a right-wing machine. Words like “swarm”, “cockroaches” and “boat people” are turning people against these refugees. The tabloids are creating a mood of fear and hatred towards some of the world’s most vulnerable people, though today they appear to be taking a temporary reprieve from this hateful rhetoric.
The facts and the fear campaign do not sit well together. This year, it is estimated that around 800,000 Syrian people will be forced to take the life-threatening journey out of their war-torn homes to Europe. So far, the amount of refugees accepted by Britain wouldn’t even fill one train. David Cameron has said that Britain should accept a further 500 people. This is even less than the amount suggested by Nigel Farage. Today, Cameron has said that creating peace in Syria, not taking in more migrants, is the answer. But what about the children who are drowning daily in the Mediterranean? Britain has a track record, not of creating peace in the Middle East and North Africa, but of contributing to the problem.
Let’s not forget that the British government played a leading role in causing the mass instability in many of the regions where these refugees are fleeing from. The power vacuum caused by the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 lay the foundations for ISIL to begin its tyranny. English rapper and poet, Akala, put it perfectly when he said “In 2011 we were told we loved Libyans so much we wanted to bomb democracy into them. Less than five years later we’re leaving people fleeing the same conflict to drown in the sea.”
It’s important that we also acknowledge that Greece and Hungary are bearing the brunt of accepting these refugees. It is completely hypocritical and totally abhorrent that the British establishment can on the one hand try to impose dreadful austerity on Greece while on the other hand tell them that these thousands of refugees are “not out problem” and that Greece will have to cover the burden themselves. This is a European problem which needs a European solution. This is why Plaid Cymru Ifanc is demanding that the Welsh government, along with the UK government, ensure that we do our bit to help these refugees and take the burden away from our European neighbours who haven’t got the resources to cope.
Plaid Cymru Ifanc is adamant that Wales and Britain should play their part. The UK state is one of the strongest economic powers in Europe and David Cameron should start to show leadership on this crisis. Leanne Wood summed the situation up perfectly this morning when she told ITV “These are people just like you and me, with children, with hopes and aspirations and fears, just as we have for our children.” People are suffering such threat, exploitation and persecution that they are forced to risk their lives and the lives of their children by crossing the Mediterranean in flimsy, inflatable boats. We should be welcoming and sheltering them. No ifs, no buts. This is our responsibility both as members of the European Union and as human beings.
Rhydian Fitter, Chair of Abertawe Branch
