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The Refugee Crisis

4,619 views · Published 6 October 2015 · 21:31 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: Royal Society of Arts · 2015 · Education

Our panel of experts and commentators discuss what is to be done about the largest wave of mass-migration in Europe since WWII.

Whilst we may have suffered a collective failure of imagination up until this point, no-one now can now fail to acknowledge the shocking human fall-out of conflict in Syria. Europe is experiencing the biggest wave of mass-migration since the second world war, and the vast majority of Britons are reflecting on their individual and national duty to the displaced masses.

We are in the midst of a seismic moment in history, and leaders Europe-wide are responding to mounting public pressure. David Cameron reacted to the shift in the national mood by increasing the UK’s refugee resettlement offer and pledging to divert a proportion of the overseas aid budget to help local councils cope.

But is it enough? Just over a million petitioners have called for Britain to do even more, and yet the BBC’s opinion polls show that the majority of people in the UK do not want to see borders opened further. With public services already squeezed, ongoing housing shortages and no clear roadmap of how we sustainably integrate asylum seekers, how do we design practical ways forward? What are our moral obligations, and can we create compassionate, pragmatic policies that reflect those?

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The Refugee Crisis

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