This #WorldRefugeeDay I am thankful – and deeply ashamed
Thankful for the New Zealanders who welcomed my German Jewish refugee grandparents (pic) after they fled the Nazis
Ashamed of a British govt that abdicates our moral duty, to help refugees in their moment of need
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Thankful for the New Zealanders who welcomed my German Jewish refugee grandparents (pic) after they fled the Nazis
Ashamed of a British govt that abdicates our moral duty, to help refugees in their moment of need
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My maternal grandparents had been made stateless and yet, with the help of friends of friends, they obtained visas for NZ, travelling via Calais, Southampton and Columbo, before landing in Wellington just weeks before the outbreak of war
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Most of their family was not so lucky
My grandfather's parents: murdered in the forests outside Riga
My grandmother's father: committed suicide under weight of Nazi oppression
bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch
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My grandfather's parents: murdered in the forests outside Riga
My grandmother's father: committed suicide under weight of Nazi oppression
bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch
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PS their route to New Zealand was legal. It was very hard to navigate and they were fortunate to be accepted – and grudgingly so. But there was a legal route.
Per @AmnestyUK "there are no safe and legal routes [into the UK] for people seeking asylum"
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amnesty.org.uk/files/2021-01/…
Per @AmnestyUK "there are no safe and legal routes [into the UK] for people seeking asylum"
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amnesty.org.uk/files/2021-01/…
PPS My grandparents were told, even as they were accepted by NZ govt, that they would not integrate
This idea was, of course, total rubbish then – and remains total rubbish now
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This idea was, of course, total rubbish then – and remains total rubbish now
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https://twitter.com/benatipsos/status/1538823737948229633
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