Wednesday, 9 September 2015

BBC's Victoria Derbyshire hosts discussion on the Syrian refugee crisis. Was the invited panel unbalanced?

The September 3rd edition of the Victoria Derbyshire programme hosted a discussion on the Syrian refugee crisis.

It seemed to me that those in favour of allowing refugees into England outnumbered those with a different view by four to two.

Be that as it may, of the two against one argued for safe havens to be set up in or near Syria. The other, Steve Uncles of the English Democrats, quite rightly pointed out that England was already one of the most densely populated countries in the world while Saudi Arabia, one of the wealthiest and sixteen times the size of England, had taken in no refugees at all.

Moreover, the five richest Gulf Nations, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have taken no refugees at all.  An article by Jay Akbar in the Daily Mail quotes Amnesty International's Head of Refugee and Migrant's Rights as saying: "The records of Gulf countries is absolutely appalling, in terms of actually showing compassion and sharing the responsibility of this crisis... It is a disgrace."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3222405/How-six-wealthiest-Gulf-Nations-refused-single-Syrian-refugee.html

Our government has already spent £1billion, since 2012, to help refugees who have fled from Syria.  We in this country have "done our bit".  Perhaps the BBC should put its editorial spotlight on those countries which could do more - a lot more!

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