Cardinal Nichols urges Europe to accept Syrian refugees

As the refugee crisis grows, so too does the world's sympathy

Cardinal Vincent Nichols announced the British public have spoken and are deeply concerned with the worsening migrant crisis, in an interview with ITV news.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) -Cardinal Nichols said that the gruesome photographs of bodies washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean, including that of a drowned Syrian toddler, are revealing "the human face of this suffering."

It is known that the British government has declined to accept migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. Thousands of fleeing refugees continue to risk their lives by attempting to enter Western Europe because of the extreme crises in their home countries.

According to Cardinal Nichols, Britain must be more generous to the desperate migrants.

In his interview, Nichols stated that the British public told him it was "a disgrace that we were letting people die and seeing bodies on the beaches when together Europe is such a wealthy place."

"If we take 10,000, it's a fraction of the problem," he said.

The migrant crisis has escalated since a boat was found on an Austrian motorway carrying the decaying bodies of 71 Syrian refugees, including a baby girl.

The Cardinal added, "People are beginning to see the human face of this suffering, so it's no longer an abstract problem of people who are on the scrounge, it's not.

"It's people who are desperate for the sake of their families, their elderly, their youngsters, their children, and the more we see that the more the opportunity for a political response that's a bit more generous is growing ... What is screaming out is the human tragedy of this problem."

Newly published reports said that at least 12 Syrians trying to reach Greece have drowned off Turkey. Photos of dead children being washed ashore have ignited a global outcry, a demand for justice and appropriate social action.

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