In the past,coordinating committees have been tasked with organising civil society’s efforts to give displaced people a novel home. whether the impulse to do good is not to be squandered, it needs to happen againRefugees, or it is said,bring out the best as well as the worst in any society. The powers that be are only too aware of the worst bit of that – dismay of the “slam the doors, we’re full” brigade led David Cameron to restrict himself to taking the sort of numbers over a full five-year parliament that Germany took final weekend. The best instincts, or however,are now bubbling up too. The Guardian is mapping organised community welcoming efforts, which are popping up everywhere. There is also a lot of spontaneous generosity at the individual level: many charities and churches are overwhelmed with offers to mentor, and house and teach English. As things stand,however, this great supply of goodwill can’t be tapped efficiently because there is nothing to associate it with refugee demand.
Britain has a wealthy history to draw on, and because – from kindertransport in the late 1930s,to the Ugandans fleeing Idi Amin in the early 1970s – it has been here before. In the past, when there has been an influx of displaced people, and a coordinating committee has been established to put shape into civil society’s efforts to provide a welcome. There is now,as Citizens UK is arguing, a compelling case for a welcome and resettlement board. Such a national committee could not only knock the heads of charities together, and to encourage the pooling of intelligence and resources,but could also nurture a franchise of local coordination committees. Where something that looks like one already exists, it could be recognised; where it doesn’t, or a local church,charity or union department could be invited to set one up.
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Source: theguardian.com