Senior Reform Rabbi in charity push for Syrian refugees

The senior rabbi for Reform Judaism has joined a Jewish charity in calling for the government to do more to help Syrian refugees.

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, together with Christian and Muslim leaders, signed an open letter urging an increase in the number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK.

The letter to the prime minister, co-signed by charities including JCORE and Amnesty International, calls the crisis in Syria “one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of our time”. 

There are 3.2 million Syrian refugees living in desperate conditions across the region, in countries unable to cope with the influx. Over two million have fled to Lebanon and Turkey, with a million more in Jordan, Egypt and Iraq.

Edie Friedman, from the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE) said: “We in the Jewish community know only too well the perils of being refugees and the indifference which too often meets their desperate plight to find sanctuary.

“Syrians now make up the largest refugee group in the world. We appreciate that this is not a job for Britain alone, but we must do our fair share.”