West Berkshire Council leader Lee Dillon urges public to be kind towards refugees in Newbury
West Berkshire Council leader Lee Dillon has called for people to be kind towards refugees following negative comments on social media.
Images of tents pitched up outside the council offices have been posted on Facebook groups and attracted local discussion.
In response, Mr Dillon has urged people to be considerate and caring to those most in need.
He said: “I am a member of the community and I am a member of many of the Facebook groups
“We have seen some negative comments and I think that comes from people not understanding the horrors that people have had to flee from war torn countries and actually if they lived one day in the shoes of some of the people who have had to flee war-torn countries they’d be a lot more sympathetic.
“What I would ask for all residents of West Berkshire is to be humane be considerate and be caring to those most in need.”
Mr Dillon also said there have been assumptions that the council is at fault for the fate of refugees in the district – particularly the two men currently sleeping rough outside WBC’s offices in Market Street.
But he says the fault is with the Government and the Home Office.
“We are seeing those who are being asked are only being given seven days’ notice,” he added.
“Who could set up a new life in seven days?
“Particularly if English isn’t your first language, if this isn’t your country that you are used to.
“If you don’t already have a job because the Government don’t allow people to work whilst they are being processed so they are really being set up for failure from day one.”
One refugee told Newburytoday that he was left feeling emotional when he heard comments about why he didn’t bring his family with him on his journey.
He said, via a translator: “I will never put them in the same place I was.
“It was a dangerous trip for me and I am happy if something happens that it happens to me.
“But not to them.”
He said he hopes his family will join him when he can provide them with a home.
