UNHCR Syrian Refugees Programme

Martin Horwood Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD)]

I am pleased to follow the moving speech of the hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern). I strongly welcome the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister and the statement by the Home Secretary today. As several hon. Members have pointed out, it is fitting that this change has taken place in the week of Holocaust memorial day.

I attended a very powerful and moving event in Cheltenham earlier this week. We talked about not only remembering the past, but learning from it and, in particular, about the importance of challenging the hysterical stereotyping of foreigners and of reaching out to those at risk of persecution. I reminded people at that event that I am the successor of Daniel Lipson, who was the Independent MP for Cheltenham during the second world war. He was also president of the Cheltenham synagogue. He spoke out in this House for the rights of refugees and for tolerance, particularly for the peoples of the middle east. I am very proud to be his successor.

I confess that when the Refugee Council first came to me and asked for my support for this campaign, which I was happy to give, I was a little sceptical of its chances of success in the current political climate. Its success is a real tribute to the Deputy Prime Minister and others in government, as well as to hon. Members on both sides of the House, including many Conservatives, who have pressed for a change of policy, but most of all it is a tribute to the Refugee Council, Amnesty International and other organisations and their supporters who have campaigned for change. They can be very proud of what they have achieved this week for some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

I am very pleased that the Government have adopted a scheme that will prioritise those most at risk, particularly women and girls at risk of sexual violence. That group is also a priority in the UNHCR programme, and I remain slightly puzzled about why the Government have not simply adopted that programme. May I ask Ministers to agree to keep the idea of a separate arrangement under review, and perhaps consider adopting the mainstream UNHCR programme in due course?

I want to echo two remarks made earlier today. First, the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) asked about the separation of families in the process. I am pleased that the Home Secretary replied that the Government have no intention of separating families, but I wonder whether a slightly firmer guarantee might be given.

Secondly, the point about the difference between refugees and migrants has been made several times. The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) and others have asked whether refugees could be excluded from the net migration figure used by the Government, and I support that idea. If the right hon. Lady agrees with Mr Nigel Farage on that point, the Conservative party can probably be reassured that its right flank has been well and truly covered, and that Government policy might helpfully be modified.

It is important to remember the context in which this step is being taken. This will be a valuable and good drop in the ocean, but it will still be only a drop in the ocean. If hundreds or even a few thousand refugees are accepted into this country, that number will still be only tiny compared with the millions who are refugees or displaced persons in Syria. We have even heard distressing examples of Iraqi refugees inside Syria who have been doubly displaced: they are now refugees again elsewhere, and still cannot return home.

Nevertheless, the British Government have done a huge amount: we are the leading humanitarian aid donor; we are actively supporting the Geneva II peace process, which is enormously important; we have taken more asylum seekers already than many other European countries; and we are supporting those who are still fighting for freedom and democracy in Syria. We have a proud record of supporting the Syrian people, but it has just got a little better.