Five years later: How we forgot the lesson of Alan Kurdi

RAMP Principal Tim Farron MP wrote the following op-ed for politics.co.uk on 24 August.

I can't think of a picture that has caused more anguish or made such a difference. It's now five years since the body of little Alan Kurdi washed up on a beach was revealed to the world. What's changed? What have we learned?

Once again desperate migrants on inflatable boats are front page news. The media – and the government – are telling us that they are illegal, invaders, a threat to our society. We are told the British people don't want them here and that the Royal Navy might be sent into the Channel to turn them away. And now, once again, the tragically drowned body of a child is washed up on a beach, this time a 16-year-old Sudanese boy trying to row across the Channel using shovels for oars.

See the full article here.

Tim Farron also considered the portrayal of refugees and asylum-seekers in an article for Christian Today.

What is our attitude to those seeking safety on our shores?

This week the front pages have again been full of pictures of desperate migrants on inflatable boats attempting to cross the Channel to reach the UK. The message from the media, and the government, is that they are illegal; invaders; a threat to our society. We are told that the government is considering sending in the Royal Navy to turn them away.

This may indeed be the view of much of the country. A YouGov poll has found that almost half of the British people have little or no sympathy for the migrants crossing the Channel, and a similar number believe that we have no responsibility to help or protect them. But what should a Christian response look like?

See the full article here.