Maltese councillors to propose ‘adopting’ Syrian refugee family

Birzebbugia councilor Hermann Schiavone and Sliema councilor Michael Briguglio will be calling on their respective local council to adopt and finance a Syrian refugee family.

Schaivone, a PN councilor, said on Facebook that society could no longer remain passive before the refugee crisis. The photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi – whose lifeless body pictured on Turkish shores is considered to be the embodiment of the hardships faced by refugees and asylum seekers  – has moved thousands across Europe in calling on their respective governments to address this human tragedy.

“We cannot remain passive and I will do my part by encouraging my local council to adopt and finance a Syrian family in our locality. We would be showing a strong sense of solidarity to Europe if  every local council takes up the initiative,” Schiavone said.

Sliema and AD councilor Michael Briguglio welcomed Schiavone’s call and confirmed he will propose the same to his local council.

The idea was first floated by UK Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper, who called on Britain’s towns and cities to take in 10,000 refugees a year.

“If every city took 10 refugee families, if every London borough took 10 families, if every county council took 10 families, if Scotland, Wales and every English region played their part, then in a month we’d have nearly 10,000 more places for vulnerable refugees fleeing danger, seeking safety,” Cooper told a conference in London.

According to The Guardian, Cooper said that Britain had a duty to accept many more people fleeing totalitarianism – and to fail to do so would be “cowardly, immoral and not the British way”.

Forty councils in the UK have so far responded to Cooper’s call.

Meanwhile, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila on Saturday offered to host refugees at his country home.

According to AFP, Sipila said the house - situated over 500 kilometres north of the capital Helsinki in the Kempele area - was "not being used much at the moment".

"I hope this becomes some kind of people's movement that will inspire many others to shoulder part of the burden in this refugee housing crisis," he said.