Let’s face it, we could all do with some optimism and positivity. So in many ways, Refugee Week – a celebration of people seeking sanctuary and all those who support them – is arriving at the perfect time.
And I think this year’s theme is one we can all relate to. Community as a Superpower describes just how I see our Jewish communities and the incredible work British Jews are doing to welcome refugees.
Despite all the differences and disagreements we might have across the community – and as the ancient saying goes, ‘any argument that is for the sake of Heaven will go on for ever’ – I feel confident that our support for displaced people is something we can all get behind.
It’s easy to understand why. Yes, as a rabbi – and I know this is true too for many in our community – this work is driven by Jewish teaching and values. After all, we are told to ‘welcome the stranger’ more times than any other commandment. But there’s perhaps a simpler reason: it’s in our DNA.
Just last week I facilitated a remarkable event, led by the United Synagogue, which really brought this home. We heard from two refugees – the first, Peter Summerfield, fled Berlin just before the Second World War; the second, Kemi, escaped from Nigeria and has also rebuilt her life in safety in the UK.
Hearing Kemi talk about the warm, empowering support she received from the United Synagogue’s Asylum Drop-In Centre really put into perspective something my colleague, HIAS’ President Mark Hetfield, likes to say: “We used to welcome refugees because they were Jewish; today, we welcome refugees because we are Jewish.”
It was remarkable, and frankly somewhat depressing, to hear also about the issues both Kemi and Peter had faced after arriving in this country – and how in many ways, little has changed in our government’s treatment and response to refugees 80 years on.
With that, I was fascinated to see Peter’s passport and entry stamp, still fresh from 1939 in Harwich. It forbade his family from working in the UK – a policy which remains today for people seeking asylum, hampering integration and enforcing destitution – and permitted his entry solely on the “condition that the holder will emigrate from the United Kingdom”.
Of course, Peter is still here today, and I am sure we can all agree that our country is so much richer for that. But it did make me wonder – would Peter too have fallen foul of the government’s new policy, which prevents anyone who enters this country irregularly from ever becoming a British citizen?
The conversation also reinforced for me just how urgently our government must step up, taking this same commitment to compassion and solidarity – two core Jewish values which guide our work – to ensure the UK plays a leading role within the international community.
We know that this too is a group which can be a superpower for good. Yet in recent months we have seen a shameful abdication of responsibility – on both sides of the Atlantic. In Refugee Week, when statistics will soon be released showing shocking, record levels of global forced displacement, the need for action is more critical than ever.
Rabbi David Mason
It was a bitter disappointment earlier this year when the government announced that UK aid spending would be cut from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of GDP. But the reality is even worse. Because of spending on asylum hotels, which provide appalling conditions – as sadly many of the young people we support can attest – at an extortionate price to the taxpayer, just 0.25 percent of the UK’s GDP will go toward overseas humanitarian work.
So at this time, when there is a glaring gap in the space where we need global, humanitarian leadership, it is pivotal that the UK takes a lead. This country is well placed to do so – and we owe it to the world’s most vulnerable to pressure our government to ensure it does. Then, again, the international community can truly be a superpower for displaced people.
- Rabbi David Mason is the Executive Director of HIAS+JCORE
