‘Schools would need to take less than one child each’ for Northamptonshire to meet refugee quota, says NREC

Refugee children in a temporary camp. Photo courtesy of Children on the Edge.

That is the analyisis of Northamptonshire Rights Equality Council, based on the equal sharing of the suggested 20,000 refugees across English counties over the next five years.

NREC says that on average, each county would need to welcome less than 420 refugees by 2020. If Northamptonshire rehoused 105 families within each school jurisdiction, schools would only need to accommodate one new student and there would still be some schools unaffected. And the county would only need two to six adults in each school area.

Anjona Roy, chief executive of NREC, said: “Some people are concerned about the effect that rehousing refugees will have on the local community.

“We appreciate that when public resources are under strain this is a big concern for local residents.

“Nevertheless, NREC strongly believes that the effects of welcoming refugees with not have a negative strain as long as the crisis is managed properly.

“If we were to rehouse refugees evenly across the county there would be minimum strain on resources and current resident’s standard of living.

“This would also have a positive impact on refugee’s integration within the local community.”

In response to David Cameron’s announcement that the UK will take in 20,000 refugees by 2020, Guildhall leader Councillor Mary Markham (Con) has agreed that Northampton will ‘play its part’ in re-homing Syrian refugees.

However, a snap Chronicle & Echo Facebook poll showed 77 per cent of respondents were against Northampton Borough Council offering housing to refugees,

Mrs Roy said: “When you look at this figure of refugees resettled using a proportionate method it actually emphasises how few resources would be required to support refugees within each community.”