Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett made the most of her trip to Exeter on Tuesday 15 March, giving interviews to Xpression FM and the BBC, as well as Exeposé, before her talk, entitled “Why We’re #GreenerIn”, that evening. Before she met me in DH1, she had already been to see a project called “Men in Sheds” […]
refugee crisis
The political Pope: the Pontiff’s visit to Lesbos
On 16 April, Pope Francis visited refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, which has become an important point in the illicit migration route into Europe in recent years. The head of the Catholic Church, who is also Head of State to the Vatican with status equivalent to a monarch, delighted crowds with greetings and blessings, […]
An interview with the Quilliam Foundation’s Haydar Zaki
Isit down with the Quilliam Foundation’s Haydar Zaki on a chilly February evening. A sizeable audience have just watched the counter-extremism think-tank’s Programs Officer discuss the impact of terrorism on the refugee crisis, a talk organised by Student Action for Refugees (STAR) Exeter. Zaki proves an engaging speaker, delivering hard-hitting messages regarding extremism, ISIS, universal […]
Crisis in Calais – eviction, immigration, and authority
Even as world leaders meet in an emergency summit to discuss what is being recognized as the worst refugee crisis since World War Two, refugees in the Calais “Jungle” camp are being evicted from the fragile structures they have made their homes, as French police move in with bulldozers and riot shields. The refugee crisis […]
“No one is there, no one is helping them” – An interview with Cllr. David Chalmers
Having imposed on a Lib-Dem society brunch in order to speak to Councillor David Chalmers and arrange an interview for the following week, it was testament to how passionate he was about his trips to the Calais and Dunkirk refugee camps that I ended up far overstaying my welcome. I left, not five, but forty-five […]
Exe student cares for Calais
Following recent and severe clashes between police and migrants at the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp, one University of Exeter student has found a unique way to lend her support. Final-year student Georgina Lewis is currently raising money to buy swimming goggles for refugees living in the ‘Jungle’ in an attempt to protect them from police brutality, which […]
Why I owe it all to: Angela Merkel
With the release of Time’s ‘People of the Year’ earlier this month, there emerged the usual controversies. Many readers condemned the decision to place ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in second position, arguing that it demonstrated crass insensitivity to the extremist violence he has advocated. Meanwhile, Donald Trump demonstrated characteristic modesty at being runner up, […]
Can Angela Merkel pull this one off?
From inspirational stories of Germans helping those in need to terrifying reports of attacks by right-wing extremists, Germany’s response to the refugee crisis has ignited debate across Europe. But, how is the country really navigating the crisis? Helping hands across Germany In September 2015, 160,000 refugees were registered in Germany. For some, the figure was […]
Migration, memory and the refugee crisis
“When the hour of deliverance shall have struck at last, when our people can once again tread the soil of their free land, they will remember their English friends and will say: ‘they were good to us’.” – Count De Lalaing, Founder of the Belgian relief fund in England. “they were good to us” These […]
Compassion in action: Exeter volunteers to take aid and letters of support to Calais
Two Exeter students will be leaving Freshers for France this weekend to provide on-scene support to the deserted refugees in Calais. Moved to action by the plight of families left stranded in the Northern French port city due to the escalating refugee crisis, Georgina Lewis and Bea Fones will make the trip this Friday 18 […]