Britain biased toward Syrian refugees

Reports that Britain has allowed in fewer number of refugees from the conflict-weary Syria than it had originally pledged have raised suspicions that London is being biased toward refugees from the Middle East.

Barry Grossman, a political analyst and an international lawyer based in Indonesia, told Press TV that UK’s bias toward refugees from Syria is normal especially given London’s role in creating a crisis in the country from which the Syrians are fleeing to other countries.

“When we consider the UK governments historical role in creating or at least contributing to many of the problems in the region, alongside the rather paltry commitment made towards Syrian refugees and their failure to come even remotely close to living up to even that commitment, it is very difficult to not draw the conclusion that the UK has a bias against Syrian refugees,” said Grossman.

“Indeed, when we look at the history of British policy in the region, there is little reason to expect that the UK would treat Middle Eastern refugees as it is required to by the governing international conventions on refugees, let alone that it would actually approach the problem with empathy and fairness.”

In an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron published by British media on Thursday, more that 30 aid organizations criticized London for accepting only around 100 Syrian refugees, while it had committed to accept 500 refugees.

The aid group described as “woefully inadequate” the UK’s response to the Syria refugee crisis, urging Cameron to “take the lead” in resettling the Syrian refugees.

Grossman said Britain has already a long history of breaking promises with regards to accepting refugees from the Middle East.

“The UK gave refuge to very few of the 2 million Iraqi refugees created by the 2003 US-led invasion and certainly has a very poor record with Palestinian refugees as well,” Grossman told Press TV’s UK Desk in an exclusive interview.

But he emphasized that a failure to properly address the issue of Syrian refugees is due to London’s positions toward the series of developments in the conflict-stricken country.

“Let us not forget that the UK’s current Syrian policy envisions action against Syria that will certainly create many more refugees.

There is simply no way to reconcile this with any claimed commitment to supporting Syrian refugees. If the UK cared about Syrians, it would not be advancing a policy regime change by military force in Syria.”