West Midlands funding call as UK to take 20,000 refugees
Britain is to resettle up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next four and a half years – as West Midlands council leaders insisted on government funding.
David Cameron told the House of Commons that the UK would live up to its moral responsibility towards the people forced from their homes by the forces of President Bashar Assad and the Islamic State terror group.
And he revealed two British citizens fighting for Islamic State were killed in an RAF drone strike in Syria which was carried out without parliamentary approval. Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan, 21, was targeted in Raqqa on 21 August and died alongside Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen.
So far no Syrian refugees have been sent to the Black Country but that is likely to change and council leaders will demand funding to help them provide services to new arrivals.
Mr Cameron told MPs: "We are proposing that Britain should resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the rest of this Parliament.
"In doing so, we will continue to show the world that this country is a country of extraordinary compassion, always standing up for our values and helping those in need."
Mr Cameron also revealed that police and security services have stopped at least six terrorist attacks against Britain in the last 12 months – and warned that the risk to Britain from Islamist extremist violence is 'more acute today than ever before'.
Council leaders are concerned that the funding to cover the costs of hosting Syrian refugees is likely to come out of the government's overseas aid budget.
Roger Lawrence, leader of Wolverhampton council, said: "The key principle is fair dispersal and full funding. Where government get the money is a matter for them but I personally think tapping the aid budget would be short sighted. Allocation of these refugees across the country must be fair, but in Wolverhampton we are expecting a relatively small number."
Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said: "We have a wide community but we have no intentions of taking in allocations of migrants. This a government problem which should be solved in Westminster, not by local councils. We would only take in refugees if given sufficient funding."
Councillor Pete Lowe, leader of Dudley Council, said: "As a council we will do all we can to help. We have officers looking at how we can help these people. We all have a responsibility to do what we can irrespective of politics."
