‘Public would accept child refugees if they weren't THIRTY years old,' fumes Ferrari
NICK FERRARI says the public would be more welcoming to child refugees if they did not look like they were 'thirty years old' in a furious rant on his LBC radio show.
Ferrari: Child refugees should look like children
The Sunday Express columnist cited the young age of children accompanying Lord Dubs to Downing Street with a petition last week and compared them to one particular photograph of an older male that he said had hardened the nation’s hearts.
A staggering 465 "child refugees” who were granted entry to Britain lied to officials to gain entry into the country in the periods between 2013-2014 and 2015-2016, official figures revealed last month.
Speaking on his LBC show, Ferrari underlined the importance images can have, including one of a man in his thirties who it was previously claimed was an interpreter by charities.
It completely changed much of the the world’s view on that crisis
He said: “Remember the picture of that little boy washed up on the beach. It completely changed this nation’s view, in fact you could argue it completely changed much of the the world’s view on that crisis for a while.
“So, a picture does have that power. If you want to go back even further than that, the picture of the young girl running with her clothes literally burning from her body during the Vietnam War changed everybody’s views on the US use of napalm in that conflict.
“One picture, the power that picture has. Now I’m not saying the picture of this 32-year-old is on the same level but it did colour public opinion.”
Farage: Most people coming to the UK are not refugees
Ferrari added Lord Dubs, who took a petition of 50,000 signatures to Whitehall last week, was “nothing but well intentioned” and he was “doing all the right things for all the right reasons”.
Lord Dubs was joined by a group of young children when he arrived at Downing Street to hand in the petition, which calls on Theresa May to reconsider her position on the Dubs Amendment.
But Ferrari suggested these youngsters were very different to pictures previously seen in the media of “child refugees” entering Britain.
The government has abandoned its plans to rehouse 3,000 child refugees under the Dubs Amendment and is taking in just 350.
Ministers introduced the programme last year after coming under intense pressure to give sanctuary to lone children stranded on the continent.
A 29-year-old was among dozens of “child refugees” who were given asylum in the UK after migrants lied to officials and posed as youngsters to gain entry to Britain, official figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, have shown.