Is the UK playing its part with refugee resettlement? – words Al Woods
We can all recall the harrowing images of the young body of Alan Kurdi being picked up from a mediterranean beach in 2015.
The images were published and beamed into our living rooms and had a huge impact on many of us. It managed to personalize the refugee crisis. The death of one boy gave a face, a name and a story that went beyond simplified headlines.
Alan Kurdi had been trying to flee the relentless and brutal war in Syria. To highlight the flight of refugees throughout the world during Refugee Week the International Observatory of Human Rights continues to advocate for better treatment and protection of refugees worldwide. In a timely interview Tima Kurdi the aunt of Alan puts forward why she feels world leaders have, up to now, failed the lives of refugees around the world.
“The first day when the image of my nephew Alan was all over the media across the world, it touched the hearts of millions of people across the world including politicians, and every one of them promised to do something and help and bring peace but the sad part is that it only lasted a few months and then all those world leaders went back to business,” commented Kurdi.
After the death of Alan Kurdi, Tima went onto write a book entitled The Boy On the Beach and founded The Kurdi Foundation in Canada to help refugee children worldwide and has resettled her extended Syrian family in Canada. This is the country that Alan, his brother and mother were reportedly trying to reach.
Alan Kurdi’s father, who woke up to news of the drowning of his wife and two sons, hoped at the time the image of his son would be a “wake-up call to the world.” The image did act as a rallying call to many ordinary people, many of whom offered their homes to refugees from Syria and beyond.
In Canada they have been showing the world the way forward. The IOHR recognizes Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program (PSR) as a beacon of good world practice. The British government on the other hand as only managed to settle fifty-three refugee families compared to 18,000 refugees being resettled in Canada. Surely, we can do better than this?
IOHR continues to promote and encourage community sponsorship and refugee resettlement. It calls on the UK government to expand and diversify its laws and regulations with its campaigns #BeARefugeeSponsor & #WorkWellRefugees. You can find out more at http://observatoryihr.org
Is the UK playing its part with refugee resettlement? – words Al Woods
