The Labour Party conference voted unanimously for a humanitarian response to refugees.
The composite motion on the refugee crisis was moved by Young Labour and said:
“Conference believes the current government’s proposals announced by David Cameron in Parliament on September 7th, to take 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 is woefully inadequate.”
It went on to say:
“It is important to recognise that the current migration to Europe is a humanitarian crisis and as such, the UK must accept our responsibilities and welcome refugees.”
In the wake of Britain’s opt out of last week’s EU agreement on resettling 120,000 refugees, the motion stressed the importance of working with European partners:
“In light of the escalating refugee crisis, this conference believes that we should be more constructive in working with our European partners to help alleviate the suffering and degrading treatment of people seeking refuge from war-torn countries. This conference urges all sections of the Labour Party to put pressure on the government to accept a fair share of the refugees seeking sanctuary in Europe.”
The motion further said:
“Conference believes the government is abdicating responsibility as a leading member of the European Union to produce a coherent, robust and humanitarian European response.”
Finally the motion condemned David Cameron’s language in the summer when he described refugees as a swarm:
“…rejects the language of ‘swarms’, ‘queue jumpers’ and ‘illegals’ used by commentators and even the Prime Minister, and notes that it is careless and degrading to those fleeing from conflict and persecution.”
This vote follows a strong signal by Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour leadership in taking a humanitarian approach to refugees. The issue was addressed by Corbyn in yesterday’s leaders speech and immediately after his announcement as Labour Leader he addressed the Refugees Welcome Here rally attended by over 100,000 people and appointed Yvette Cooper to head up Labour’s refugee task force.
Stand up to racism is organising an Anti-racist Feeder March to the TUC march at Conservative Party Conference (4 Oct), as well as a protest and public meeting on the day of Theresa May’s speech (6 Oct). Love music hate racism is also doing a fundraiser gig (2nd October) Click here for more info Lets tell Cameron, Refugees are welcome here!
Below:
Pictured : Jeremy Corbyn MP Labour Party Leader with Bianca Jagger, Diane Abbott MP, John McDonnell MP, Catherine West MP, Clive Lewis MP and Shami Chakrabarti at the 100,000 strong refugees welcome demo in Parliament square
High Profile figures at Labour Party Conference say Refugees Welcome! Len McClusky – General Secretary Unite the Union, Kate Osamor MP, Kelvin Hopkins MP, Andy Burnham MP Shadow Home Secretary, Manuel Cortes, General Secretary TSSA, Tulip Siddiq with our campaigners and Owen Jones – Writer and Journalist.
Click here for a pdf of our refugees welcome here briefing leaflet