Stromness man calls on council to help refugees

In an open letter to Orkney Islands Council’s chief executive and convener, a Stromness resident has called for the local authority to provide humanitarian assistance as Europe’s migrant crisis escalates.

According to Mike Craigie’s correspondence with Alistair Buchan and Councillor Steven Heddle, the OIC could accommodate 200 refugees in council houses that are currently standing empty.

This would, he said, be in line with the UK accepting 640,000 asylum seekers fleeing countries such as Afghanistan and Syria.

Mr Craigie wrote: “At a time when the UK Government is planning to spend £600 million on upgrading a nuclear defence system, which it surely never intends to use, is it not more humanitarian to be proving a refuge to some of the millions who have nothing and are drowning in the Mediterranean.”

He continued: “The Orkney ‘share’ of this would be only 0.1 per cent of 20,000 = 200, which would hardly even fill the number of empty council houses!

“This would be a small drop in the ocean, rather that standing by idly whilst these millions of people suffer, and I think the OIC should show some humanitarian leadership for a change.”