Refugees (Family Reunion) (No.2) Bill

Debate between Rebecca Pow and Nigel Huddleston

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 16th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

I am pleased to follow the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), who was eloquent, as ever. I am also pleased to have the opportunity presented by this Bill, which has been so poignantly debated today, to speak about Britain’s role in taking in refugees.

I want to say at the outset that as a mother of three children who are now—I cannot really believe this—over 18, I am very pleased that the Government are listening carefully to concerns raised about this issue by non-governmental organisations and others, and that Home Office officials are currently reviewing our approach to family reunion as part of the Government’s wider assessment of asylum and resettlement policy.

Britain has a very proud history of being a warm and welcoming country for refugees fleeing violence, persecution and oppression, and we are a country that is willing and able to help those in need. About 0.24% of the UK population are refugees and asylum seekers, which is about 169,000 people. I am pleased to say that, over the years, Somerset has of course played its part.

To give just one example, several of the people who escaped from Uganda in the 1970s—they were thrown out by Idi Amin, having been given 90 days to leave with anything they could carry in a few bags—came to Somerset. Altogether, over 27,000 came to the UK, but some went to camps in Watchet and Yeovil in Somerset, and many of them have stayed in Somerset, living their lives and making their homes in Taunton Deane, which as we all know is a very fine place to live. We have welcomed them and educated them, and I met one of them who came to my surgery the other day. When I was a news reporter for HTV, I interviewed some of the people who escaped from the terrible war in Kosovo, and we also welcomed them with open arms in the west country.

Today, there is no less a call for humanitarian actions across the globe, and the UK has a commendable record in the middle east. By 2020, 20,000 refugees from Syria will have been resettled in the UK, half of whom have already arrived, so we have a very proud record. As has been mentioned by several colleagues, in 2016 the UK settled more refugees from outside Europe than any other EU state, which is a brilliant record. According to Eurostat figures, over a third of people resettled in the EU came to the UK.

To go back to my constituency, the community has really stepped up in taking in refugee family groups. Although Somerset is not an established asylum dispersal area, Somerset County Council has committed to taking dozens of families over the next three years, and I am really proud to support that. The families are taught English, and they have access to counselling and schooling, as well as support to become fully fledged members of the Taunton Deane community, which means attending Brownies, playing football on Saturdays, holding birthday parties and—I am pleased to say with my gardening hat on—adults accessing our local allotments, because many of them want to grow the crops they are used to eating. As I have said, we are very proud to welcome them.

The community in Taunton Deane has been especially welcoming to Syrian families. The charity Christian Help and Action for Refugees in Somerset was established by three churches—Taunton Vineyard, Creech St Michael Baptist and St Mary Magdalene. CHARIS has successfully worked with the local authority and the Government to resettle a vulnerable Syrian refugee family in Taunton, and it continues to offer the family support now that they have arrived. It trains volunteers in the community to help them, and they are completely engaged with our community. I have met all the church leaders and some of the volunteers, and I really praise them for their dedicated work.

[Nigel Huddleston]

My hon. Friend is making an important point that has not been much debated today. It is probably inappropriate in this debate to talk about capacity constraints—do we have enough housing, and so on—when accepting refugees into this country, but one thing to which there seems to be no limit on capacity is the willingness of our residents and constituents to welcome refugees. We are hearing that very strongly right across the country. It seems that they are very willing to fill the gaps in areas where the Government, with their resource constraints, cannot always achieve these goals.

[Rebecca Pow]

I could not reiterate my hon. Friend’s comments more strongly. Just last month, the charity I have been talking about announced that the Home Office had approved the resettling of a second refugee family in Taunton—and they will be very welcome. We must remember the lasting impact that welcoming vulnerable families into the UK may have on our national reputation. A letter from the father of the first refugee family resettled in Taunton from Kurdistan reminds us of this. In his letter, he thanks the “tender and loving” people of the UK and says:

“This beautiful kindness will remain with me until my end”.

That fully backs up what my hon. Friend just said.