Refugee Crisis: Greece and Turkey

Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Baker of Dorking

Tuesday 10th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

Then noble Baroness raises a very valid issue. Indeed, when I was being briefed, that was a specific question. As she will appreciate, the situation is fluid. While immediate medical attention is being provided, there is no exact figure for the numbers who may be caught up in the coronavirus crisis. As she will be aware, part of the issue is that Turkey has closed its border with its near neighbour Iran, for containment reasons. However, a specific assessment of the numbers has not been made. On the wider point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Collins, we of course continue to lead. For the past three years, the UK has been the leading nation, with close to a quarter of the refugees who have taken safe haven across the EU coming to the UK.

[Lord Baker of Dorking (Con)]

My Lords, I am sure the Minister is aware that the best cards are held by President Erdoğan, who, I understand, left yesterday’s discussions with Europe without any agreement. There are 4 million Syrians in Turkey, and there will be another million if Assad takes Idlib. If that great mass of humanity decides to walk north, as 1 million people did in 2015, there will be an enormous crisis. It would affect us as well, because there would be pressure on the channel ports. If that is the case, I hope the Government will not make comments from the sidelines but will be actively involved in trying to resolve the crisis. Coronavirus will be settled in time, but mass migration on this scale would create problems for generations.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

Those are wise words from my noble friend and I take note of them. He is quite right: I agree that the challenge is not just to comment from the sidelines. That is why we have been proactively engaging; only last week, my right honourable friend met both the Foreign Minister and the President of Turkey regarding Syria.