Daventry mother speaks out about humanitarian crisis in latest Gusher column

I do not pretend to know about politics, I also don’t really keep up with world news, as I believe that often we haven’t even got it right on our own doorstep, but recently how can I ignore the utter devastation that is happening to thousands of innocent citizens in Afghanistan.

Their home country, where they were born and have raised their children, is in turmoil with an ominous future, quite frankly a humanitarian crisis. This has led to what can only be described as heart-breaking and horrific scenes being aired and watched across the UK, scenes of people fleeing for their lives in an attempt to get out of the country, their own country.

The UK stepped up and has promised to house 20,000 refugees over the course of the coming years with 5,000 being within this next year. We could do more, we can I am sure. As people of the UK we may sit here in our chairs and start blasting on about how we are a small country, how we do not have the room, how we can’t even look after our own and yes all of these statements rattle around for a bit in quite a few of our heads I am sure.

However, let me please put the picture in your mind of the thousands of people begging to be evacuated, begging for help and then the most devastating scenes of all of parents handing their children, passing their children and throwing their children over barricades and barbed wire to British soldiers, imploring them to get them to safety. British soldiers have been reported to have been crying at these acts, these gut-wrenching acts for the children they love.

Oh my goodness! Parents are THROWING their babies and children to complete strangers in the desperate hope that someone, anyone will take them away and get other people to look after them. I imagine absolutely and positively never to be seen by their mothers and fathers again. Could you imagine nowadays being in any situation in our small, tiny country that meant that in order for your child to live not ‘a better life’ but just ‘a life’ you had to make a split second decision to throw them over to a complete stranger, a strange person from another country who speaks a different language and which you have never visited and have no chance in your lifetime to ever get to? I can’t even begin to process that.

Let that sink in for a moment.

In light of this I decided to do some reading and found that the UK has already been through resettlement schemes and helped to relocate over 20,000 Syrian refugees. I did not know that. Also over in Afghanistan, after 9/11 we employed 7,000 locals to assist with translation and keeping relations with neighbouring communities. So these people are our workers, our employees. We MUST make room, we have to.

Under this new rule now in Afghanistan the remaining women are afraid that they face a completely different life, one of frightening terror, suppression, forced marriages and many other unbearable atrocities. I have listened to reports from family members saying that their relatives are now staying inside their houses in fear of their lives.

We thought we had been making headway, we thought some peace had resided; how very quickly all of that work has been undone.

So I want to just leave you with my one last thought. I am a human being and other human beings need help. As a human being I will not disregard their pleas just because I do not speak the same language. A cry for help sounds the same in any language.

Let us all be thankful we don’t have to shout for help too much over here on our tiny, little island.

Bee grateful and thankful