Katharine Viner - The plight of refugees is the crisis of our times
This year’s Guardian and Observer charity appeal is for
refugees. The unprecedented flight of men, women and children from the war in
Syria has captured the world’s attention, while around the globe there are 20
million people seeking sanctuary from war and oppression, in search of a life
worth living. Most have fled to countries which are themselves poor and
unstable. More than one million of the most vulnerable urgently need
resettling. This is the crisis of our times, and how we respond to it is a test
of our values, our spirit, our ingenuity, our generosity.
Naomi Klein with Katharine Viner, Talk, 29 April 2015
"Its not about carbon. Its about capitalism"
Naomi Klein with Katharine Viner, Talk, 29 April 2015
"Its not about carbon. Its about capitalism"
Finding the best political answers is complex. But it is
vital we do not close our hearts, or lose sight of the essential human
response, or ignore the needs of some of the world’s most desperate people. The Guardian has reported the refugee crisis consistently
over many months, from Syria and the camps in neighbouring countries – Jordan,
Lebanon, Turkey. We have tracked the ruthless people traffickers, voyaged with
the rescue boats, watched helplessly the consequences of putting to sea in
rough conditions: the capsizes and sinkings and the drownings, whose victims
included three-year-old
Alan Kurdi, whose small body was washed on to a Turkish beach after his
parents’ dinghy capsized in a failed attempt to reach Greece.
And we have witnessed the fraught and painful journey of
refugees on the road from Hungary to Germany, told in John Domokos’s astonishing
short Guardian film We
Walk Together. We have chosen refugees as our theme this year not just to
raise money for a vital humanitarian cause but as an act of solidarity. Our
appeal slogan is We Stand Together: a stand against intolerance, and fear; a
stand for empathy and generosity. And a stand for clarity and perspective: as
US President Barack Obama said in
the aftermath of the Paris attacks, we must not start to equate the issue of
refugees with terrorism... read more:
