The refugee crisis is worsening. So far this year, more than 2,000 women, men and children have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy.
Every day, more people attempt the crossing, risking their lives in the hope of finding safety. Many are intercepted and forcibly returned to Libya, a country ravaged by civil war.
Those who make it to Europe face an uncertain fate. Across Greece and the Balkans, thousands of vulnerable women, men and children are waiting indefinitely in squalid conditions to find out if they will be granted protection.
Many have fled horrific violence in countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. They desperately need a place of refuge. And yet our leaders seem to be turning their backs.
The UK has a moral duty to do its fair share to protect and help refugees. Yet right now we take just 3% of EU asylum requests. This is simply not enough.
The government has now said that after Brexit the UK could withdraw from the EU’s framework for protecting refugees altogether. It has offered no vision of what will follow.
That's why we must urgently call on every Member of Parliament to champion refugee protection. Please sign this petition to send an email to your MP now.Dear MP
I am deeply concerned about the dire and dangerous conditions faced by refugees and as my MP I urge you to take action to ensure that more is done to protect these vulnerable people. I am supporting the campaign by CARE International and ask that you to write to Home Secretary Amber Rudd to ask her to protect refugees in the Great Repeal Bill and related Immigration and Asylum legislation by:
- Expanding the number of resettlement places offered by the UK to at least 10,000 places per year for people fleeing war and persecution from around the world, not just the Syrian conflict.
- Committing the UK to contribute its ‘fair share’ in wider European efforts to host refugees – most urgently in terms of relocating refugees that make it to Italy and Greece.
This year is set to be the deadliest yet for refugees coming to European shores with over 2,000 having died so far this year. Yet Britain currently accepts just 3% of asylum requests in the EU.
In the context of Brexit, the government has said it will pull out of the EU framework on refugee protection without offering a vision of what will follow. We can and must do more for these people in desperate need of our compassion and support.
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Your comment here]
[Address]
