Tulip Siddiq urges PM Cameron to take urgent action to address refugee crisis in Europe

British MP Tulip Siddiq in a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron has called for urgent action to address the current refugee crisis facing Europe because of the conflict in Syria.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 4 Sept 2015, 07:54 PM
Updated : 4 Sept 2015, 08:19 PM

The Bangladesh-origin lawmaker from Hampstead and Kilburn posted the letter on her website on Friday.
 
Keir Starmer QC, MP from Holborn and St Pancras, and Catherine West, MP from Hornsey and Wood Green, also signed the letter.
 
Siddiq in the letter said all member states of the European Union “must look beyond their borders to address wider, global issues”.
 
The Labour MP slammed the Cameron government for “not keeping with Britain’s long and proud tradition of helping those most in need”.

She was critical of the British government staying away from talks to be held between other EU member states next week to see whether the burden could be shared more equitably.

“But our failure to engage with our European partners runs far deeper than this,” said the granddaughter of Bangladesh’s founding father.

Siddiq said Britain must be part of UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) programme to address the refugee crisis instead of opting to its own separate programme.

Britain’s separate programme, according to her, will grant “just 1,000 Syrians, at the very most – a fraction of the tens of thousands whom Germany and others have helped”.

She also slated the British government for being silent when the EU withdrew funds for search and rescue of the refugees in the Mediterranean.

“This needs to stop,” she said in the letter.

“We are calling on the British Government to push, internationally, for a number of practical actions to be taken to address this crisis,” the letter read.