A group of 50 leading refugee charities and aid agencies has condemned the government’s record on the refugee crisis, describing the support offered by the UK as “not enough – not even close”.

In a letter to the prime minister before two crucial international refugee summits, which Theresa May is due to attend, the charities state that the global response so far has been inadequate.



“Of course, the commitment by David Cameron to resettle 23,000 refugees by 2020 is a welcome step in the right direction. But it is not enough – not even close – as hundreds of thousands of refugees remain in desperate need,” the letter, signed by Oxfam, the Children’s Society and Christian Aid, among others, states.



The charities call on the UK government to adopt three commitments during next week’s talks in the US, requesting that the UK should take a leading role in “developing a humane, coordinated international response to the millions fleeing crisis”, offer safe passage to more refugees, in part by removing obstacles to family reunification, and commit to providing better support for those refugees who reach the UK so they can rebuild their lives here.



May is due to to attend the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants next Monday and the US Leaders’ Summit on Refugees on Tuesday.



The letter is designed to showcase the strength and unanimity of feeling among relevant organisations before a refugee solidarity march scheduled to take place in central London on Saturday.



Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International, one of the letter’s signatories, said: “History will judge us for our failure to deal with the global refugee crisis. Instead of focusing on putting up more barriers to keep people out, the UK must urgently provide the safe and legal routes refugees fleeing violence and persecution desperately need.”



The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Maurice Wren, said: “The prime minister has the chance to lead by example – by offering more refugees safe passage and encouraging other countries to do the same. The time for prevarication and evasion is over; world leaders must make sharing responsibility for protecting refugees their number one priority.”



World leaders attending Monday’s refugee summit will consider how best to respond to “an unprecedented level of human mobility”, with an estimated 65 million people forcibly displaced in 2015, including 21 million refugees. They will discuss signing up to a draft declaration that acknowledges that refugees are facing a “desperate ordeal” and pledges that the international community’s challenge is “above all moral and humanitarian”.

“We are determined to save lives” and “combat with all the means at our disposal the abuses and exploitation suffered by countless refugees and migrants in vulnerable situations”, the draft document states.

The letter to the prime minister reminds her that a year ago 100,000 people marched through London to register their dismay at the death of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned as his family fled to safety, “sending a clear message that this country must not stand by while children drown in Europe’s seas”.



The continuation of the crisis, a year later, reflects “the inadequacy of the international community’s response until now, and its failure to address the root causes”, the letter states, adding that unless constructive action is taken by the government “we too will be party to that failure”.

A government spokesperson defended the government’s record, stating: “This government has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We have pledged £2.3bn in humanitarian aid to Syria and neighbouring countries and providing nearly £70m in response to the Mediterranean migration crisis.”

