Tories may consider admitting refugees

A CONSerVATIVe government minister has called on Westminster to consider admitting Syrian refugees to the UK.

earl howe said Britain had traditionally been a country that has “looked kindly on people in distress” and insisted “that should not change”.

his appeal comes after Ukip leader Nigel Farage joined the growing calls for the UK to start admitting Syrians fleeing the fighting, which has ravaged the Middle eastern state for almost three years.

earlier this month Amnesty International said the government should “hang its head in shame” for not opening its borders to the some of the millions of people displaced by continuing violence.

Asked if Britain should be doing more to bring Syrian refugees into the country and offer them support, Lord howe said: “I certainly think we should look at this and we have in the past traditionally, have we not, been a country that has looked kindly on people in distress and who are the victims of violence in their native countries and that should not change.”

he added: “I think we have got to look at this urgently. There are people in desperate need, we can’t accommodate them all. I think the european Union has a duty to look at what it can do, both on the ground for those refugees from Syria but also looking at whether we can accommodate some of them.”

The United Nations has called on the international community to offer not only humanitarian aid for refugees, but also resettlement opportunities outside the country, and Labour has called on the government to accept 400-500 Syrians, including torture victims, women and girls at high risk and people with family links to the UK.

But ministers insist Britain can best help by providing funds to assist those affected by the long-running civil war both inside Syria and in neighbouring states such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.