Refugee crisis: UK mulls military action
Suggestion to solve problem at source
BRITAIN moved closer to military action in Syria as a senior minister at the weekend said Europe’s refugees crisis had to be tackled at its source.
A newspaper also reported that a United Kingdom parliamentary vote on bombing Islamic State militants in Syria could take place next month.
Finance minister George Osborne said Britain and Europe had to find a way to tackle the conflict in Syria, as well as provide asylum to those fleeing persecution.
“You’ve got to deal with the problem at source, which is this evil Assad regime and the IS [Islamic State] terrorists, and you need a comprehensive plan for a more stable, peaceful Syria,” Osborne said.
“A huge challenge of course, but you can’t just let that crisis fester. We’ve got to get engaged in that.”
The Sunday Times newspaper said British Prime Minister David Cameron wanted to hold a vote in parliament in early October to pave the way for air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
He was also seeking to launch a military and intelligence offensive against people traffickers.
French newspaper Le Monde reported earlier on Saturday that France was considering conducting air strikes on IS in Syria, joining an international coalition led by the US. Cameron said on Friday that the country would welcome “thousands more” Syrian refugees.
The Sunday Times said Cameron was prepared to accept 15 000 refugees from camps located close to Syria.
His government has come under pressure to do more to address the crisis following the publication of images last week of a Syrian toddler lying dead on a Turkish beach, which led to a public outpouring of emotion.
Osborne, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance chiefs in Turkey on Saturday, said the British government would provide more details of its plans next week.
“Yes, we must offer asylum to those who are genuinely fleeing persecution.
“Countries like Britain always have; we are one of the founders of the asylum system. We will take, as the prime minister said, thousands more,” he said.
“But at the same time, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got aid going into the refugee camps on the borders … We’ve got to defeat these criminal gangs who trade in human misery and risk people’s lives and kill people.”
Resolving the migration crisis also means dealing with the problem of President Bashar al-Assad’s “evil” administration in Syria and IS, Osborne said.
Cameron has suggested he would like to ask Britain’s parliament to vote to join the US-led air strikes on IS militants in Syria, after lawmakers rejected military strikes in Syria in 2013.
He said on Friday he would only proceed with a fresh vote in parliament if there was a “genuine consensus” in Britain about bombing IS in Syria.
Some British media interpreted the comment as a sign of concern on the part of Cameron that the opposition Labour Party would not support such a move if its leadership race is won by Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing front-runner and an outspoken critic of Britain’s role in the war in Iraq.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann called yesterday for an emergency EU summit to resolve the migrant crisis, saying his country’s admission of thousands of refugees crossing from Hungary was just a temporary measure.
Refugees have been streaming into Austria from Hungary since Friday, after Hungary laid on buses and trains to take them to the border following days of confrontations with refugees who were barred by police from travelling westwards.
On arrival in Austria, many boarded trains and buses to Germany – the final destination of most of the people seeking refuge from conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other countries.
Austria has provided special trains to take them across the border.
“A measure of this type cannot be a solution,” Faymann said, emphasising that the assistance was a temporary manifestation of Vienna’s “goodwill” in the face of a humanitarian emergency.
Austria is among the countries calling for binding quotas on the number of refugees to be taken by each EU member state. Vienna also wants EU members to adopt common rules on the granting of asylum.
Rescuers in Cyprus yesterday saved more than 100 Syrian refugees after their boat ran into trouble overnight off the Mediterranean island, authorities said. — Reuters with additional reporting by AFP