division_name: Refugees (Family Reunion) (No.2) Bill
motion: <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;From the time when I have been told I have to travel to Stornoway, the first thing that came to my mind was &#8220;where is that?&#8221; Then they told me it is in Scotland. Well, all I know about Scotland is that it is a part of the UK and it is so cold there&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I didn&#8217;t even think that Stornoway is on an island in the middle of the Atlantic!</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/6" pwmotiontext="yes">Lots of things started coming to me, bad ideas, about how the people will be there, what the houses look like and even how the people look. For me it was an unknown place. I wasn&#8217;t worried about the language&#8212;I already have some English and it will improve by practising with the people.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The most important thing I was thinking about is how people will deal with me with my family, especially the women in my family, because they wear the Hijab and it is something strange for the people where I am going to...</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/9" pwmotiontext="yes">What I thought about people here is that everyone will just be looking after himself, and nobody cares about the rest. I was completely wrong. Now I have to say sorry to them about how I was thinking about them before.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/10" pwmotiontext="yes">The thing that surprised me most is the charity shops and events, and even the small shops have at least one box for charity. People here deal with volunteering as part of their duties. For a while I thought they got paid for that, but all I know is that it is a priority for them! I asked myself how they do this, and the only answer I got is that they feel for each other, and they love to do things for others just for &#8216;thank you.&#8217;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/11" pwmotiontext="yes">In general, I like it here. It is an island in the middle of the sea, but at least you can feel the life here. You can be like anyone here. What do you need more when an old man asking you, &#8216;Where are you from?&#8217; And after you answer he starts telling you, &#8216;You are very welcome in my city. We are so sorry about what&#8217;s happening there. What can I do for you? Please ask for help when you need it.&#8217; Unfortunately, I didn&#8217;t realise that before.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1119.6/12" pwmotiontext="yes">The rule they follow is, &#8216;humanity first.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1125.2/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We are a very close family; our bonds are very special&#8230;My little kids ask me every day: &#8216;Baba, what happened with Kusai and Athar? When will they join us? When will we see them and talk to them?&#8217; I truly have no idea and don&#8217;t know what to tell them.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1128.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there is no evidence underlying it&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1128.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;&#8216;it&#8217; being the pull factor&#8221;.&#8212;[Official Report, House of Lords, <phrase class="date" code="2018-12-15">15 December</phrase> 2017; Vol. 787, c. 1777-78.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1128.0/13" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Our NHS Trust supports the mental health of young refugees through our child and adolescent mental health service. The refugee team here, with the support of Chief Executive Paul Jenkins, wished to convey their support for your private Member&#8217;s Bill.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1138.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;human rights were not conceived in 1998. They have existed for centuries, but they did not exist in a vacuum. Rights were balanced by responsibilities.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2018-06-03">3 June</phrase> 2015; Vol. 596, c. 646.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;that the majority of would-be asylum seekers have landed within the EU on Mediterranean coasts and have then chosen to cross several countries within the EU (all of which could have provided refuge) does seem to contradict the argument that they are escaping persecution, hardship or war.&#8221;&#8212;[Interruption.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;personal belief in a sensible, compassionate system of accepting genuine refugees where possible&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.6/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the largest number of any European country&#8221;;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.6/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;over half way towards honouring our commitment&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.6/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This my kitchen. Here in the eastern Ghouta we use the fridge as a cupboard to store things in. My daughter&#8217;s doing the dishes. I know the world is waiting for us to evacuate. But it&#8217;s not right. It&#8217;s not right to kick someone out of their own land. It&#8217;s not right to go in and force people to leave. What will happen to them? They&#8217;ll just be a displaced people, wherever they go people will look down on them. How do I think all this will end? I&#8217;m not sure to tell you the truth. I know what I hope and I hope that something good will happen, that everything will be okay, and that&#8217;s what I tell myself: everything will be okay.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.6/13" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;so they don&#8217;t feel forced to make the perilous and potentially life-threatening journey to Europe.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.6/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;almost at bursting point&#8230; There have been small riots in Malmo over the demolition of a migrant camp set up for Palestinians and a general sense that the fabric of Swedish society is under strain.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1140.6/18" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;when asylum seekers have their case rejected, most disappear&#8230; On average, seven out of 10 of those facing deportation just vanish. Or, rather, they stay in the country and keep gaming a system that could have been designed for ease of exploitation.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1142.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;in 2004, it was absorbing about 400 children a year. Five years ago, this had grown to 2,600 - and even then, the system was starting to creak... Last year, 35,000 unaccompanied children claimed asylum in Sweden&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1142.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;providing the right care to so many is a task that would overwhelm a superpower, let alone a small Nordic state&#8230; Care homes have been set up so quickly that they fall far short of what&#8217;s needed to protect the staff, let alone the children. On Monday, a 22-year- old working at one of the homes - herself the daughter of immigrants - was stabbed to death.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1142.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;18 boys were found in an abandoned house with no toilets and no heating; the temperature was well below zero. They were sleeping on the floor, many under the same quilt to keep warm - one was just nine years old. But after being placed in a care home, they ran away and ended up sleeping rough again.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1142.1/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There are &#8216;anchor children&#8217;, who are sent ahead by their desperate family&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1142.1/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There are also trafficked children, who may still be in the hands of gangmasters and are being forced into work or prostitution. And there are the &#8216;street children"&#8217; who live in abandoned buildings and are often sucked into a criminal underworld.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1142.1/13" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the lesson from the Continent is clear: to let in more immigrants than you can handle leads to trouble, but to admit more children&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1143.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the lesson from the Continent is clear: to let in more immigrants than you can handle leads to trouble, but to admit more children than you can care for leads to tragedy.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1143.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Women, accompanied or not, had to run a literal &#8216;gauntlet&#8217; of heavily intoxicated masses of men of a kind that is impossible to describe&#8230;the situation we were confronted with (chaos) could have led to serious injuries or even to deaths.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1149.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I regard it to be an absolute priority to take the 480 young people we have committed to.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2018-02-22">22 February</phrase> 2018; Vol. 636, c. 187WH.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1149.1/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;refugee family reunion is not a straightforward immigration matter, and that&#8230;only qualified legal advisers can deal with&#8230;the significant and diverse complexities&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1149.1/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;When people can&#8217;t afford to defend their rights&#8212;often won by social justice campaigners over decades&#8212;then they are not worth the paper written on.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1150.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a1163.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This beautiful kindness will remain with me until my end&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="a1169.4/2" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="a1169.4/3" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 129, Noes 42.</p>