Caerphilly Observer has teamed up with the Welsh Innovation Centre for Enterprise (ICE) to collect items needed by refugees who are fleeing to Europe.
Thousands of refugees have made the perilous trip from Syria and surrounding countries to Europe and thousands have died on the way – drowning at sea and suffocating in the back of lorries.
Many are now stranded in Calais, Kos, Hungary and elsewhere, being forced to live in makeshift camps as European leaders debate quotas on how many refugees countries can “let in”.
People to People Solidarity – Action from the UK are calling for the public to donate items much-needed by the refugees, many of whom are young children, which will be taken to Calais.
Items needed include: clean clothing of all kinds, including winter wear, tents, blankets and sleeping bags as well as pallets and canvas sheets, toiletries, razors, shaving foam and feminine sanitary products, nappies and non perishable food items.
Donations can be dropped at the Welsh ICE reception, Britannia House, Caerphilly Business Park on Van Road Caerphilly Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 5.30pm.
A group of Newbridge Mums are also collecting for the refugees and St Paul’s Church in Newbridge will be open to receive donations from 12.30pm to 4.30pm on Saturday September 12 and from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday September 13.
If you are organising any collections or events in Caerphilly County Borough supporting the refugees please contact gareth@caerphilly.observer.
Instead of collection donation to give to them why not collect donations for a ferry ticket back to the first safe country they fled from?
The response is fundamentally flawed. Let us stop trying to treat the swarms heading to Europe, let us use the military to make safe the countries they are fleeing from.
We disagree Dean, and we believe the majority of our readers do as well.
We are all human beings and I cannot believe that you have been left unaffected by some of the truly awful images that have been shown in the national media.
All we are trying to do is collect a few items that desperate people are in desperate need of.
Whatever you feel the long-term solution could be, this does not alter the fact that human beings are suffering right now and need practical help.
Richard Gurner
Editor & Publisher
It is a little bit over the top to berate a reader (Dean) and imply that he is not compassionate or does not care about suffering people. His point was that these refugees are making arduous journeys through several safe countries in order that they can get to Britain or Germany. Where is the humanitarian response from geographically large and hugely wealthy countries such as Saudi Arabia?
His other point was that making short term arrangements is not going to solve the problem, that of civil war between rival muslim sects. The UN has a role here but will not, or cannot, act to make war torn countries safe.
Your actions are making the problem worse not better. Your heart maybe in the right place but your actions are covering your hands in blood. You are using emotion to deal with an issue not reasoning.
I understand that this might sound cold but your response and the response of others like you are putting the lives of people in danger. It’s a knee jerk reaction because you have been swayed by a photograph being used in a sinister manner to sway the hearts and cloud the minds of people just like you.
I advise you to redirect any monies or items you may collect directly to the refugee camps that border Syria and not to the refugees who are in Europe. It is far better for them to stay in these camps and eventually return home than burden Europe and the UK with their high level of need.
Also, don’t suppose to speak for the public just report the news. Many of your readers disagree with your point of view too.
Perhaps it is time for the Observer, which has now been established as an online and hard copy paper, to finally introduce an editorial. This will end the pretence that it is totally unbiased; no other paper I have ever read is unbiased, they all reflect the views of the owner, publisher and editor.
That sounds like a good idea. I think the observer is a reasonably good rag and would benefit from more input. A little research has shown me that Mr Gurner started it as a blog and has built it into a sizeable news outlet, so it might be a good idea to take it up a level.
It has nothing to do with compassion. I am looking at the problem, not the effects. No one likes to see people in poor circumstances but the humanitarian help this paper is calling for (collecting things) will only make the humanitarian crisis worse. The paper is starting a campaign that will indirectly lead to more deaths. People will start to see Britain is willing to give so more will head to Britain, or will want something to do with Britain. Collecting things to give only strengthens the pull factors that is attracting people to Britain. As there are not enough things to give (cost and also material) there will always be people we cannot help.
As a second point, I believe there is blood on the hands of some economic migrants for making needless journeys from safe countries to other countries. Migrants are crossing from safe Turkey to Europe – the journey across water is leading to deaths. There are additional deaths on ferries from France, the trains in Europe where people are trying to hitch a ride, and the Eurostar. Additionally, the ‘refugees’ (or economic migrants when they move on from a safe country to a more economically developed one) are purposely posing for cameras to create a public appeal. If the public let their emotions rule, not their brain, the politicians are more likely to relax borders.
By collecting financial donations to build better refugee camps in countries that need more people (with no net migration Germany’s population will be 25% below the current level in 2050; also the rest of the Middle East) the pull factors will not be increased. The only solution in the long-term (it just so happens the countries at war have large populations and large birth rates) is to build safe areas in the affected countries using the military. People can then move to safe areas in their own countries without becoming a burden on other people.
I thonk that both Richard and Dean are deliberatly missing the point made by Richard Gurner and his staff. Both comments have merit, but, this appeal is to deal with the humaniterian disaster which is emurging as a result of war and conflict, and I presume it makes no judgement on the issues raised by Richard and Dean, those issues are for a seperate debate. I can see no comment attributed to The Observer which makes any judgement as to how these people, stranded in Countries not of their choice, arrived there, or what should happen to them henceforth.
The issue here is about human beings helping human beings, Politics, Conflict and War aside, I know that if Richard Williams in particular set the greater issues of this catastrophy aside he would be the first to contribute to the basic needs of these unfortunate families, regardless, and he probably will, regardless of his political analysis of the problem. Right Rich.?
Absolutely right Tref, Britain gave succour to 30,000 Ugandan Asians who were persecuted and thrown out of their country by Idi Amin. This was the correct response and reflects Britain’s very good record on asylum seekers.
What is happening now is different in some important ways with people refusing to claim asylum as soon as they reach safety but making hazardous and arduous journeys to places where they want to live.
I stand by what I commented on regarding the Observer’s response to Dean who wishes to address the real problem which is civil war and/or cruel dictatorships. The Observer is right when it says that nobody can be unaffected by the awful images of suffering but I am equally moved by the suffering of people in Zimbabwe, China and half a dozen other places that do not benefit from news coverage specifically designed to deflect public anxiety from the reality of Britain’s population increasing by more than 300,000 people per year.
I believe this newspaper is starting a scheme that will indirectly cause more human deaths. The scheme is counter-productive.
The scheme sets up more pull factors that encourages the migrants to make dangerous journeys from the first safe country they reach to Britain, or Europe.
This is the elephant in the room that no one who wishes “to help” will look at.
This mass influx will not end well. We are just storing up problems for later. Perhaps not much later.
I agree. I am shocked this paper is supporting a scheme that will likely lead to more deaths in the future. The heart is more dangerous than the head.
I wouldn’t look down on this paper for its actions as its aims are noble. Similar to the other article concerning the ladies collecting for the Syrian migrants. If their aim were redirected to the refugee camps in Turkey it would discourage people from making perilous journeys across the med.
I would appeal again for the observer to reconsider the destination of its donations. If it does I will also contribute.
Charity begins at home, there are plenty of our own people ( British born and bred ) who are in need of help, you only have to go a few miles down the road to find a sick child desperate for care or a homeless person desperate for somewhere safe to live. These scenes showing hoards of foriegn invaders trying every which way the can to get into Britain where they believe they’ll be given free money and free housing will only lead to the majority of British people voting to leave Europe, our British identity, culture, religion and traditions are being eroded by this influx of illegal invaders who do not respect us, they hate the west but are glad to take our money and our handouts.