LETTER: Shameful help for refugees

It was refreshing and encouraging to read Councillor Apel's words on our moral responsibilities to refugees. As one of the wealthiest and most privileged corners of one of the richest countries in the world, our offer to take only 10 families over the next four years is shameful.

By The Newsroom

Published 11th Apr 2016, 12:00 BST

Updated 7th Jun 2018, 18:41 BST

For a few days last September our consciences were disturbed by a photograph of a dead child on a Turkish beach. That powerful visual reminder prompted our government to make the derisory offer of which our ten-family commitment is part; before and since, the government, acting on our behalf, has made every possible effort to restrict and minimise the UK’s contribution to

the crisis.

I do not know a single person who would remain in a war-zone like Syria; furthermore, almost everyone I know would welcome a needy stranger if they met them in person. We are protected from our responsibilities by our distance and our ignorance.

Angela Merkel has shown enormous courage and moral leadership in trying to find a humane course through this continental catastrophe; I applaud all UK politicians, at all levels, who are doing the same.

Matthew Leeming

Salthill Road

Fishbourne

Syria