Last night there was a huge fire in the ‘Jungle’ section of the camp on Samos island, Greece. I was volunteering in Samos only last year, and was completely heartbroken to see that, last night, the only scrap of shelter available for around 6,000 vulnerable people, was going up in flames. 

The 'Jungle’ area of the camp is an informal, sprawling section crammed with tents, and has been causing safety concerns for some time. While I was on Samos, we often discussed the risk of fire, and the various obstacles to emergency services being able to properly access the overcrowded camp- a year on, and an additional 3,500 people living there, and this frightening event has become a reality. We don't yet know how many people were hurt and if there were fatalities.

The camps in Greece and across Europe are truly terrifying places to live for any person, let alone a child who is by his or herself. As numbers of desperate people fleeing conflicts continue to rise, we need family reunification now more than ever. It is vital that the UK do at least the small bit that it had already promised to do, and reunite these children with their families in safety.

Many people think the ‘refugee crisis’ is over. Although it has mostly disappeared from the eye of the media, it is absolutely not over. Not only is it still ongoing, it is getting worse - this is not because of the people themselves who are arriving, but because of the inhumane policies being implemented by EU states, and lack of action from wealthier EU countries such as our own. These policies are causing fires like the one that has devastated the camp in Samos.

Please share the petition, strike up a conversation with family and friends, email your MP - let’s do everything we can to ensure the UK doesn’t turn its back, and keeps #FamiliesTogether.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Melissa