Donations Wanted For Refugees In Syria, Greece and France

[CCrescent]

Hello All - I am organising a donation collection for Refugees in Syria, Greece and France on behalf of UK Action For Refugees and Dulwich2Dunkirk. The drop-off date is Feb 21st, 11am-4pm in the pub garden at the Dulwich Wood House in SE26. If any of you are interested in donating clothes, food, toiletries or have boxes/packing tape to give or could help out on the day receiving and sorting donations, let me know! Any and all help gratefully received - as you will already know, the situation is absolutely horrific, people just like you or me are drowning or freezing to death and that is if they have managed to escape being bombed or outright shot. I had to do something and so this is what I'm doing...it is but a drop in the ocean, I realise that, but at least it's a drop...and so, if you can, please help!

Donations needed are packing boxes/tape, blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, warm winter clothing (incl. shoes, boots, hats, scarves, gloves), baby carriers, push chairs, soft toys, toiletries, nappies and wipes, sanitary towels; as well as food such as tinned or dried beans/peas/lentils.pulses, tinned veg or fruit, tinned fish, rice, pasta, Nuts, pitta bread, instant porridge/soup/noodles, condensed milk, baby food and fruit pouches/pots.

Alternatively, if you can't make it on the 21st, The Roasted Bean (23 Westow Street, SE19 3RY) is happy to store your donations, you can drop them off there until Saturday 20th.

Plus, March 2nd, there will be a food drop off at Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, Edgar Kail Way, East Dulwich, 7-9pm. There is a game arranged for that night in aid of refugees between DHFC VS FC Assyria. FOOD ONLY!

[anton0807]

Charlotte they are migrants fact

[Angelina]

there is an element which are refugees.

but yes, mainly migrants.

[curlykaren]

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e486a76.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35241394

http://syrianrefugees.eu/?page_id=87

Clearly not everyone has the same definition of the word 'fact'

[Angelina]

I'm sure you're making a point, curlykaren, but it would be useful to summarise it rather than leave a whole wad of things to read through to try and guess whcih bit of information you're referring to

[anton0807]

Curly karen I accept the people in Jordan or turkey are refugees but the people in Greece Germany and France are not refugees refugees go to the first safe country so not Greece Germany or France or the UK

[handymaneast dulwich]

anton i have to agree with you totally.

[ksl2331]

Hi Charlotte - are there any items that are more useful than others? Assuming men's clothing is higher on the priority list that womens, for example.

[stoo31]

Anton, there's over 1.2 million refugees from Syria in Lebanon...

[curlykaren]

Sure, in summary

1) 'they' are not all migrants: fact

2) people unwilling to familiarise themselves with a topic should probably refrain from commenting on it

[anton0807]

The people in France Germany and Greece are migrants fact maybe the BBC and unhcr should go after the people smuggling gangs

[CCrescent]

Hello All,

I'm sorry not everyone agrees that help is needed. I feel there are so many people out there in awful circumstances that I am compelled to help somehow, whether the people in need are migrants or refugees is secondary to me (although I believe that they are refugees) when I see that they are starving, freezing or drowning to death.

I think that if you don't feel help is needed then we will simply have to agree to disagree - I don't think this forum is the place for an argument in which (lets be honest) neither side is going to convince the other.

For those who feel, like me, that help is needed, the donations needed are:

packing boxes/tape, blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, warm winter clothing (incl. shoes, boots, hats, scarves, gloves), baby carriers, push chairs, soft toys, toiletries, nappies and wipes, sanitary towels; as well as food such as tinned or dried beans/peas/lentils.pulses, tinned veg or fruit, tinned fish, rice, pasta, Nuts, pitta bread, instant porridge/soup/noodles, condensed milk, baby food and fruit pouches/pots.

Thank you everyone!

[jenny pink]

Hi.

CCresent,

we used to fill handbags with 'woman's goodies'...very efficient & discreet .......Jenny

[NA]

anton0807 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Curly karen I accept the people in Jordan or

> turkey are refugees but the people in Greece

> Germany and France are not refugees refugees

> go to the first safe country so not Greece

> Germany or France or the UK

This is utter drivel. Moving on to a second or third safe country does not mean you aren't a refugee.

Well done to the original poster for this initiative. I'll certainly be contributing.

[Green Goose]

The OP is unbelievably naive.

They are ECONOMIC MIGRANTS who PAID people smugglers to get them to Calais. 95% are young males who will work while getting refugee support here. They will then bring in their extended family.

On top of this, our gutless politicians in Lib/Lab?Tory groups are doing nothing about making it more difficult to exclude them.

At present around 400,000 illegal immigrants make it into the UK and NONE are deported. Enough is enough.

The more you help them the more will come.

[uncleglen]

Yes Green Goose -and one of the main reasons they want to come here is because they know that they can hide and work in the black economy and their mates that are already here encourage them to come.

The same can be said for illegals from South America.

Everyone wants something on the cheap....

[NA]

The above two posts are, again, utter drivel. Having been to Calais, the vast majority of people living in the camp are refugees who are fleeing the most unimaginable horror. Most refugees who make it to France apply for asylum there; those in Calais make up a tiny minority. Their reasons for wanting to make it to the UK are not based on wanting to suck us dry, but are linguistic (they speak English), family-based (many have family members who have successfully claimed asylum here already, given their genuine refugee status), or out of the (perhaps mistaken, given the nonsense spouted above) belief that the UK is a bastion of fairness where people are treated with kindness and respect.

[uncleglen]

Some people are well and truly brainwashed by the lefty press- they and their families can probably afford to be. The fact that the migrants are willing to attack lorries and storm the tunnel and what went on at New Year in Germany makes me think that if they are genuinely running from horror they should have used their skills at combat and assault to actually front up to the enemy like real 'men'.

[stoo31]

What went on at New Year you say?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cologne-only-three-out-of-58-men-arrested-in-connection-with-mass-sex-attack-on-new-years-eve-are-a6874201.html

Perhaps rather than accusing other people of being "brainwashed" by the lefty press you might want to stop behaving like a daily mail headline generator.

The facts are out there but if you choose not to believe them and place no value on human life because the press and government have decided that due to their religion and country of origin they aren't entitled to basic human rights then so be it but don't belittle and discourage people who are only trying to help.

[CCrescent]

Hello All,

This may make no difference to those of you who feel that the refugees in Greece or Calais deserve no help - but it may, and so I thought I would post again. The majority/all of this donation drop is going in a container to Syria. Within Syria there are millions of refugees displaced from their home due to the multiple factions currently tearing the country apart. Men, women, children, elderly with nothing left and nowhere to go and with bullets and bombs raining down on them. There are children, CHILDREN, who are wandering alone and afraid and with only the clothes on their back because they have lost their parents, grandparents, siblings, any family or any safety they ever had.

I know it is horrific to imagine but try to think how you would feel and what you would do if your entire street, your entire world was blown to pieces and nowhere around you was safe. Imagine now that you are 7 years old...or pregnant...or disabled...or injured...

Surely, these people deserve our compassion and our help. Surely, if we can, we must do something?

That is why I am helping.

Thank you, Charlotte

[Green Goose]

Come to think about it, we have let in countless "refugees" over recent years including one Abu Hamza of Finsbury Park fame who spawned no end of hatred and extremism. Our tolerant politicians did nothing to stop his preaching and recruitment of more extremists.

And now we are paying for it. In fact we are still paying for it in cash terms in the form of housing benefit, transport and support for his extended family that have remained here in the UK.

Then there was Abu Qatada who benefited from our hospitality as a refugee for 10 years before he legged it to Jordan rather than get extradited to the USA.

Both their "disciples" are now creating havoc and terror round the world.

Get a grip Charlotte. you are no doubt a lovely , well-intentioned person but you are stunningly naive.

GG

[curlykaren]

And the prize for the weakest argument goes to.....

[uncleglen]

The comments after the Independent article are very informative. AND there are CHILDREN wandering around the UK alone and afraid....being preyed upon

[gbaw]

I wish you every success tomorrow and will be bringing what I have.