Despite these shocking facts, the British government has not joined the United Nations High Commission for Refugees re-settlement programme but has instead set up its own programme providing minimal assistance. Under mounting pressure the government has reluctantly agreed to take “several hundred” of the “most destitute” Syrian refugees: an utterly inadequate commitment when compared to either the scale of the refugee crisis or the commitments made by other nations.

The tip of the iceberg of what seems to be a second humanitarian crisis contained within the official one, has caught the mainstream media attention, when a group of Syrian refugees occupied the port of Calais, in October 2013. The occupation, which lasted several days, was organized as a result of the inhumane conditions in which the migrant population that congregates there is forced to live, in the highly policed border town. The group, counting around 60 people of all ages and genders, requested to meet a representative from the Home Office, refusing to leave and sending a clear message: Refugee in the U.K. or die at the port of Calais. More info at Right to Remain