ACTOR LIAM CUNNINGHAM has called for Ireland to do more to help the millions displaced by the war in Syria, saying our record to date has been “shameful”.
“Not so long ago when there was a famine in this country, there was a million and a half refugees from this place and if America had treated us the way we are treating the Syrians, where would we be now?
It is absolutely shameful.
Ireland has pledged to take in 4,000 people under an EU resettlement programme, but so far only a fraction of that number have arrived.
Cunningham, who is best known for his role in Game of Thrones, compared Ireland’s record responding to the Civil War in Syria with that of Lebanon in particular.
At 4.5 million, Lebanon has a similar population to the Republic of Ireland but has taken in over a million Syrian refugees.
Less than 500 people displaced by the Syrian conflict have arrived in Ireland to date, according to a Dáil statement given last month by a Government minister.
’It is about humanity’
“If we have an opportunity to help one of these people, then as a nation we can lift our head a little bit higher,” said Cunningham, who recently visited two Syrian refugee camps in Jordan.
If we turn our back and say ‘oh God, it’s awful but it’s not really to do with us’, it is to do with us! It is about humanity and the fact that these people wear hijabs and speak Arabic does not take away from their humanity.
Cunningham said that Ireland had taken in just 311 refugees, in spite of last year’s pledge to take in 4,000.
That figure was given by Trocáire at an event in the middle of last month.
In a Dáil statement made on 28 September Minister of State for Justice David Stanton told independent Mick Wallace that:
As of today, 486 persons displaced by the Syrian conflict have arrived in Ireland.
He added:
I have since announced that a further 260 refugees will be taken in by Ireland in 2017 bringing the total number of refugees to 780.
Executive Director of Trócaire Éamonn Meehan said last month that there was a lack of political will in the country to respond to the crisis, and that Ireland has yet to play its part.
Liam Cunningham travelled to Jordan with World Vision. The charity is asking people to sign a petition on its website calling for world leaders to do more about the refugee crisis, and to prioritise children.
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