Why is Bassetlaw Council so reluctant to help resettle refugees from war & oppression?

by Leon Duveen on 18 October, 2016

Tonight I asked this question at the meeting of Bassetlaw’s Cabinet:

This week, Jews around the world commemorate their wanderings for 40 years as refugees from slavery & oppression.

What is Bassetlaw District Council doing to help today’s refugees fleeing war, oppression & slavery? How many families from the thousands in Jordan, Turkey and across Southern Europe are being resettled here in our area?

The response from the Chief Executive was that this is a matter coordinated by Nottinghamshire County Council & by East Midlands Councils,  Cllr. Simon Greaves, Leader of the Council, said that he didn’t know how many refugees had been resettled in our District and Cllr. Dukes chimed in to say that while the Council was working with 3rd party organisations, Bassetlaw does not have the infrastructure to resettle refugees from these war zones even though there have been offers from families to take some in.  He also added the he thought that about 3 minors from Afghanistan had been fostered in the area.

When, I asked Cllr. Greaves again if he had even a rough idea of how many families had been resettled here in Bassetlaw, he was unable to give any number or even if any had been resettled here.

 

I am completely staggered that our District Council and our Councillors are so blasé about the need to resettle the refugees in what is the biggest humanitarian crisis in decades, both in Southern Europe & in the Middle East.  Yes, Bassetlaw does not have a large Muslim population but those flee the wars in Syria & Iraq come from a very different culture to the majority of British Muslims so that should not be an issue.  Indeed, many of the Muslims who do live in our area are from Arab countries so would be well placed to help resettle any refugees that come here.

The people of North Nottinghamshire are, for the most part, friendly and welcoming to those who migrate here for whatever reason. I should know being a migrant to Bassetlaw myself.  Why is the Council denying us the opportunity to help these people in desperate need even when there are, as Cllr Dukes admitted, families in Bassetlaw willing to help resettle them?

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