YP Letters: We cannot ignore suffering of Calais refugees

Handout file photo taken with permission from the Twitter feed of @HelpRefugeesUK of demolition teams dismantling makeshift homes in the Calais migrant camp known as the Jungle.

I HAVE recently returned from a week volunteering with Help Refugees trying to provide basic assistance to refugees stuck in the Calais “Jungle”.

I was absolutely disgusted by what I have seen, and whilst I am full of admiration for the volunteers and the work they do trying to make daily life bearable for the refugee people, it is simply not good enough.

There is no satisfactory reason for us to ignore the plight of these ordinary people – doctors, teachers, lawyers and most of all children – just like your family and mine.

None of the people I met wanted to leave their home country, and while they may admire the quality of life currently available for many (not all) of us in the UK, they do not want to stay here in the long term. I heard long laments about the beauty of their home countries, about the tragedy of wasted lives and broken up families.

I urge all of your readers to think about what it would be like if they and their families were in this desperate position and the humiliation of being refused safety in our country, left stuck in a rat-infested, filthy ghetto without any proper homes or sanitation, and to hold out, however they can, a hand of welcome and humanity.