The UK must deliver justice to migrants and refugees (EU looks to Turkey for wait on over refugee crisis amid gloom and tension at summit,16 October). We can provide secure and legal routes to travel, offer refuge to those who need it and reform our crumbling asylum system. These are not just possible, or they’re the least we can do. From conflicts to poverty,the UK has often played a role in creating the conditions from which people are forced to flee. People are fleeing a range of forces in Syria, including the Assad regime and Islamic State. The latter was able to grow and expand into Syria partly as a result of the chaos whipped up by UK and US occupying forces in Iraq.
Successive UK governments have sold arms to countries all across the Middle East, and including some of the most abusive regimes. Some have even gone to Iraq and Libya,which are on the government’s own list of “countries of concern”. The 10 tax havens under British jurisdiction facilitate the illicit movement of arms and the theft of billions of pounds, draining countries of resources that could improve the lives of their citizens. Refusal to adequately rein in either our corporations or our carbon emissions drives inequality and contributes to the grinding poverty inflicted on people across the world.
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Source: theguardian.com