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Molly Scott Cato MEP, Green Party speaker on EU relations, has welcomed the European Parliament’s overwhelming support for the relocation of refugees in the EU [1], but has launched a blistering attack on the Conservatives.
A resolution in the European Parliament has called on EU countries to relocate 160,000 refugees, currently living in refugee camps in Greece and Italy. The call comes on the same day that the Conservative Party have launched their manifesto, which promises to ‘reduce immigration to tens of thousands’ [2]. The UK government has always made clear that Britain will play no part in assisting other countries by offering safe haven [3]. Molly Scott Cato said:
“The European Parliament has today sent a strong signal saying that EU countries must relocate refugees. The Conservative government’s repeated refusal to play any part in the relocation of refugees currently living in crowded and squalid conditions in southern Europe adds to the perception in continental Europe that the UK is risking its status as a civilised society.
“Today’s manifesto launch confirms that the Tories have abandoned any commitment to rational policy-making when it comes to immigration. Their decision to bear down on immigrants from outside the EU will make the UK an insular country where compassion towards refugees and asylum seekers in desperate need is sacrificed at the altar of mythical statistical targets.
“We need to build bridges not walls. But it is clear that a Tory government will choose the latter, closing the UK’s borders and in doing so turn us into Europe’s meanest nation.”
Notes
[2] http://www.itv.com/news/2017-05-18/conservative-party-manifesto/