Amnesty

Amnesty International has a very active network of volunteer groups around the country. They organised a workshop in Cambridge to bring people together from the East of England to discuss the response too increasing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers in an environment that isn't entirely supportive.

The stories of one woman from Medecin Sans Frontieres stick out. She has been involved in various places administering emergency medical care including in the Mediterranean off Italy. What she said about two Nigerian sisters will stay with me: after losing both their parents in an attack by Boko Haram they survived the perilous journey across the Sahara to Libya, during which sexual assault, extortion and starvation are common, to make it into a boat. They arrived with life-changing horrific burns from diesel oil which had been swimming around them all the way.

People go through traumas that it is impossible to imagine but most of us would do exactly the same.

The MSF lady also told us about a group of Eritreans who burst into song and dance when they could see the land of Europe coming into view. She said it made her cry as she knew their journey of acceptance and integration was only just beginning.