Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Tim Farron: Cameron must veto this poisonous deal with Turkey before our response to the Refugee Crisis becomes immoral

By | Fri 18th March 2016 - 9:30 am

Strong words from Tim Farron in today’s Independent about the proposed EU deal with Turkey which would see refugees returned from Greece to Turkey. Rather than create safe and legal routes for refugees, Tim argues that this deal would violate international conventions.

For instance, collective expulsions of people seeking international protection are condemned by the EU’s own Charter of Fundamental Rights. We know Turkey has failed to fully implement the Geneva Convention on refugees and has no functioning asylum policy. David Cameron would do well to re-read the international human rights agreements and principles Britain has committed to, before he signs on the dotted line in Brussels.

Second, given the deteriorating state of press freedoms and human rights in Turkey, this deal would risk sending vulnerable people who are in need of protection back to a country that is far from “safe”. This is morally wrong and sets an unpalatable precedent, weakening our authority to fight for improvements in human rights standards globally.
So what should the EU be doing?

At the Liberal Democrat Spring conference last week, my party unanimously adopted a policy paper on Syria and the refugee crisis. One of our key demands is the call for safe and legal routes to be put in place, so that genuine asylum seekers can apply for humanitarian visas in the refugee camps themselves. This would remove the necessity for desperate families to risk everything, including their lives, for a place in a boat across to Greece.

There is no doubt about it – David Cameron has failed to respond adequately to this refugee crisis. We are a country with a proud history of welcoming those seeking protection. But by continuing to put his fear of UKIP ahead of doing what is right, he does our country a great disservice.

It’s not as if we don’t have a really good example to follow:

We only need to look to Canada to see what is possible. The new Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, horrified by the plight of so many Syrians on our side of the Atlantic, has delivered a programme which has resettled 25,000 refugees in Canada over a three month period. Despite the fact this crisis is in our own backyard, our prime minister had to be pushed to agree to take 20,000 over five years, well below what we are capable of.

As Tim said in his Conference speech last week, each one of these refugees is a human being just like us who needs help. As one of the richest countries in the world, we are in a position to be able to give that help and we should.

You can read the whole article here.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings

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4 Comments

  • Ryan 18th Mar '16 - 10:02am

    Canada, really? We still have this Trudeau love in?

    A PM who refuses to admit single men, as Trudeau has, is no model of liberalism we should be following.

  • Stuart 18th Mar '16 - 9:11pm

    @Caron
    So how do you feel about Canada’s refusal to accept single men? Is this the kind of example we should follow?

    It wasn’t long ago that the Lib Dems were fully supportive of Turkey’s attempts to join the EU. Now they are saying Turkey is so uncivilised that people should be able to claim asylum from there. None of this bodes well for the referendum – the Leave people will make mincemeat of this kind of confusion.

  • James Ridgwell 18th Mar '16 - 10:21pm

    Now that more details of the EU-Turkey migrant deal are known, we know that collective expulsions are not part of the deal. Had they been, then that would have been a clear breach of refugee conventions etc. It appears Greece, with EU help, will put in the infrastructure to consider any arrival individually. It also appears that the EU will take eg Syrian refugees direct from the camps in Turkey (safe and legal passage). Overall, looking to the bigger picture, we should support the EU getting a handle on this. Not only should it materially reduce the numbers risking and in some cases dying in dangerous sea crossings, it might also help reduce the chance of brexit, and just as importantly, reduce the chance of the EU itself fracturing (the migrant crisis uncontrolled is/would raise the chances of both events). UK-wise, I certainly support our party policy of calling on the the UK to take 10k Syrian refugees a year.

  • William Jones 19th Mar '16 - 2:37pm

    Hmmm, not sure this is helpful! Turkey isn’t Syria and is surely a safe haven. Happy to be corrected if Turkey isnt a safe haven. It can’t just be the EU and poor Greece.

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