to think we could all do something positive - and ask UK govt to take in a lot more Syrian refugees?

[findmeunafraid]

I get the rage. The fear. But behind all that it is hard to somehow focus on the story of all the Syrian refugees. On the people behind the headlines.
Couldn't we channel some of this vast emotion into campaignjng to take in far more refugees from Syria. To balance the gates being shut by Trump?

I know all the arguments that "we don't have space" etc etc but it is actually quite hard to believe that is really the case when many wealthy people have second, even third, homes.....

I can't start a petition, but maybe someone could?

MTB1003 completely agree with you

OP you seem to be the only one being nasty

You can't tell us what to do, especially when you can't do it

Such a strange thread and reaction

One poster has said it is possible to start a petition anonymously.

Have you looked in to that?

Not the govt ones though. And given the others have no actual impact there seems precious little point

Who have I been nasty too

And what kind of people continue to attack someone even after they have said they have PTSD and that the thread is making them distressed

And what kind of people turn a thread about refugees into an inquisition of a random stranger on the Internet

I have asked so many times that you don't. And explained it is making me distressed. And yet more people are piling on to discuss me rather than the refugees.

Do something positive by educating yourself OP.
A start would be watching the videos above.
Syria is not what you think it is, you have been lied to.

I know no one with a spare room.
My childrens class cannot physically take any more children.
I work in the NHS. I see the daily struggle for beds. Yes I see the discussion over a bed for A or B and have already spoke to A and B. One goes home. I am often the one to tell them.

OP - it would have helped if you'd stated exactly WHY in your original post you personally couldn't start a petition rather than expecting everyone to guess why and then becoming upset when they couldn't. It wasn't even slightly obvious why you couldn't until you finally told us

I'm pro refugee as well but your tone and rudeness has completely put me off - sorry.

What a strange thread

Oh FFS I'm sorry OP, I think you really have your heart in the right place. I think some posters are being unfair expecting you to have nailed down the foreign policy on this and to be clinging to your comment about second homes.

IMO it's a fucking travesty there are thousands of empty properties while there are homeless people on the street here in the UK and refugees living in horrendous conditions elsewhere.

If recent govts had invested in new housing AS PROMISED and the NHS instead of selling it off to their mates and not slashed benefits under some bullshit "austerity" banner ans not kept their rich friends richer through tax cuts and refusal to close tax evasion loopholes then maybe our country wouldn't be under such pressure.

It's not an overpopulation issue, it's a government issue!

And I really hope all those criticising the OP because she's not putting UK homeless first are doing something about that situation themselves.

Like Nick Ferrari once said on LBC, if you and your neighbour's homes are on fire, you save your own children first.

What a horrendously facile analogy. We're so bloody privileged here, if the UK was a house it would barely be smouldering. Probably just someone burning the toast.

Why just Syrians? Why not Iraqis, Afghanis, Sudanese, Libyan, Kurdish Turks? Loads of civilians at risk of death from other countries, as well as Syria. I think we should help them all!

A lot of empty properties are not available though. Perhaps a protracted sale is going through (happened to us) , or it's being cleaned and prepared ready for sale after the death of a relative. Perhaps the owner is in hospital!
Perhaps it's going through probate to establish an owner. Perhaps it's uninhabitable. There aren't lots of ready fit for purpose properties, otherwise people would rent them out!

I am not convinced by this..

From observation there are significant areas of conflict between islam and our pluralist liberal democratic culture. Not least is the central experience of ilsamic government being mostly based on a strongman leader who brooks no dissent. Then we need to consider how islam treats women. Please remember the undelying story behind Rochford and the howls of anger expressed in these pages.

Whilst I am saddened for the refugees, i feel they both parties will be better off if the refugees settle in a country where their culture is in tune with that of their hosts.

No-one wants to give up anything or we would all have a refugee sleeping on the sofa.

Assuming that if the Government did allow more in, they wouldn't increase the funding for NHS, schools, housing etc, then how do you think this would work?

Actually the Nick Ferrari analogy is right - surely most people would save their own children over someone else's?

The problem with people like the OP is they think that it is simply a case of redistributing. I own a property in two countries, i work exceptionally long hours. I also assisting running a fundraising event for local charities, for instance in March over 4 days which in previous years has fundraised ~£50k for a combination of local health and children's charities.

Owning two homes allows me to achieve an enormous amount of work between my associates overseas and the UK and means i don't have the cart around luggage. If i could afford a holiday home too (which i hopefully will one day) I would buy one. The problem with your redistribution ideas OP is that it drags everyone down to the lowest common denominator. What encourages people to work hard is the lifestyle it allows them to enjoy. We currently have the technology to achieve almost anything. My first few years out of university i worked with engineers without borders and we developed real solutions that helped real people.

I hate this generation of people who are all words and no actions. What action have you achieved in the past 10 years that help others in your community or worldwide? It is nice to have express your empathy for others, but unless you achieve something for their benefit what is the point.

But people with more that one property don't have to justify that fact - whatever the reason, they are unlikely to want people who have no money or references moving it, although I accept in MN land, people would give up their own homes, and all their worldly possessions, to help total randomers, despite making their own families suffer

It's the ultimate Virtue Signalling when people bleat that we should all do something and then in the next breath say, "But I can't because...."

And no, you are unlikely to be given a cute 5-year-old Syrian child. I'm sure though that there is the opportunity to take a teenage male.

fwiw I am dubious about the morality regarding the number of second homes in this country. However, most of these second homes are in places with no work apart from the tourist industry and I don't think many people - let alone refugees - would want to live in Mousehole.

No-one attacked OP. They just pointed out that 'someone should do something but not me' was a bit of an odd premise for a thread.

Op I think you should leave this thread, you don't sound very well. I mean that kindly.

Strangely my local council are just building 25 thousand council homes, 3 schools, a hospital and 6 GP practices. Nissan and Ford are building factories nearby and are advertising for employees. They've recruited teachers and nurses galore. I'll send a note to Downing Street now.....

No-one wants to give up anything or we would all have a refugee sleeping on the sofa.

That's quite true actually BadKnee.

A quick trip to any city/busy town and most of us could find at least one rough sleeper to bring home with us, whether they're a refugee or not.

If only things were that simple or safe.

The UK, contrary to what you might think, is actually doing a huge amount of Syrians. Sure, we don't take many refugees. What we do, as a country, is help them where they are. TBH, that is probably much more cost-effective, and will make it much easier for people to go home and rebuild once the war is over.

From here
Britain is the third largest overall contributor, after the European Commission, with $1.37bn (0.049% of GDP). In 2015, it has almost doubled its aid to Syria to $631m, while funds to Iraq decreased from $71m in 2014 to $28m.

This is out of date, but trying to find a list by country/% of GDP takes more time on Google than I have this morning.

Plus, from the BBC:
The UK gives more in international aid than any other developed country apart from the United States, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
And in terms of % of GDP, we're 5th.
So can we stop beating ourselves up for being horrible, uncaring bastards?

First line, *for Syrians

Rhoda I wouldn't mind living in Mousehole!

As Lumela points out, we give millions to the camps, and raised that in response to a plea from the Jordanians. We are doing our bit.