Bianca blast Bob for inviting Syrians to stay
Bob Geldof may have offered to shelter four refugee families at his london and Kent homes, but such noble gestures are ‘ wrong’, according to bianca Jagger.
The former wife of Sir Mick Jagger turned human rights campaigner says: ‘bob’s is a humane reaction, but this kind of thing doesn’t really help.
‘It’s an over- simplification of a solution. Simplistic answers are wrong. of course, every person has the right to do what they feel, but what is really needed is more support in the refugee camps in the neighbouring countries — in lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.’
Since divorcing the Rolling Stones singer in 1979, the feisty Nicaraguan-born model has reinvented herself and launched her own Human Rights foundation.
bianca, 70, (right, with Geldof) serves as a Council of europe Goodwill Ambassador and has represented Amnesty International.
‘I have strong feelings about this,’ she adds, speaking at the launch of her f riend Catriona Ward’s debut novel Rawblood, at daunt, Marylebone. ‘I’m very troubled by
the response in europe. The British people are very generous, and have been t hroughout history, but political l eaders need a coherent policy.’
Geldof said this month he would put up three families at his sprawling home in Kent and one at his London flat. He said ordinary people should ‘get stuck in’ and not ‘palm off’ responsibility for housing refugees to the Government.
However, his comments were dismissed as ‘pie in the sky’ by David Simmonds, chairman of the Local Government association’s asylum, migration and refugee task force. ‘It is very striking on the radio . . . people saying: “I have a spare bedroom, I will happily take a Syrian refugee,” ’ said Simmonds.
‘But were these people ready yesterday to take any of those on the housing waiting list in their local area who may have been here for quite some time?’
asked if he has taken any refugees, Bob’s spokesman says there is no update.