Oxfam says that Britain and other rich countries should sharply increase the number of refugees from Syria they take in. The aid agency would like as many as 10 per cent of Syrians that have been displaced by war resettled before the year ends. Oxfam announced its talks in advance of UN talks scheduled to be held in Geneva which are meant to focus on the crisis. So far just 1.4 per cent of refugees have been helped so far.
UK target not good enough
The UK has a target of resettling 20,000 refugees from Syria by 2020 which Oxfam has said is simply not good enough. However, the British response has been to say that it is focusing on also providing aid to people living in the troubled region. The UK has pledged £2.3 billion in aid which is supposed to help the worst affected by the humanitarian crisis which has been caused by a five-year-old civil war in Syria. That would make the United Kingdom the world’s second largest bilateral donor after the United States.
Urgent solutions
Oxfam says that whilst no one can doubt the generosity of the British in providing financial aid to those that have been displaced by the civil war, the agency argues that the UK can and should do more. Oxfam says that rich countries should shoulder greater responsibility towards refuges than less wealthy nations such as Jordan and Lebanon where thousands of Syrians now live. The aid agency says that the conference in Geneva should produce “urgent solutions” for people trying to escape the violence.
Most vulnerable should be resettled
Oxfam took a close look at the pledges of 28 countries that are members of the OECD and signatories to the 1951 Convention on Refugees. According to Oxfam these countries have committed to take in nearly 130,000 refugees however so far only 67,000 have actually arrived. The 10 per cent target of Syrian refugees Oxfam would like rich countries to accommodate by the end of the year represents the proportion of refugees the UN says are the most vulnerable and in need of resettlement.
Shocking statistics
According to the analysis of data, Oxfam says that only Norway, Germany and Canada have made pledges to resettle refugees that exceed their fair share which is a measure based on the size of their economies. New Zealand Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Australia have pledged more than half their fair share whilst the UK is at 22 per cent and the US at just 7 per cent. Mark Golding Oxfam GB chief executive says that it was shocking that vulnerable people fleeing violence were not being provided a safe home.
