* Appeal to be made at party’s Bournemouth conference
Donations for refugees in Calais will be collected by the Green Party at its autumn conference in Bournemouth beginning on Friday (25 September).
The Green Party’s deputy leaders, Amelia Womack and Shahrar Ali were two of very few senior UK politicians to visit the camp in northern France, where they chatted with many of the refugees about their experiences of fleeing violence, oppression and war.
All the money raised will be donated to Cal-Aid and L'Auberge Des Migrants; organisations the party’s deputy leaders met with on their Calais visit.
Deputy Leader, Amelia Womack said:
“One way that we can help Europe’s refugee crisis is by dispelling the myth that the people camped at ‘The Jungle’ are a threat to the UK; it’s wrong that so many of the stories about Calais reaching the UK are demonising and dehumanising. We’ve all seen the pictures of refugees making their way across Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Italy and some of the individual stories are both harrowing and uplifting.
“The second way we can help is by giving a little bit of spare change to help improve the living conditions of those based at the Calais camp. I and my Green Party colleagues visited Calais and saw the reality of the situation, which is the camp has poor sanitation and insufficient access to water. As we head into winter, it’s important that everyone there has access to adequate shelter, clothing, shoes and hygiene products.
“I’ll be asking Green Party members to give what they can when we meet in Bournemouth for our autumn conference.”