As a local resident please write to the Leader and Members of Ely District Council
and demonstrate a willingness to welcome refugees to our community. Personalised messages are better but here is some sample text. You can find your local councillor here.
I am writing to ask you to increase the housing available for refugees within our community. There is continuing turbulence and displacement across the world – from Syria to Afghanistan to Ukraine and throughout Sub Saharan Africa. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees identified 108.4 million people, including 43.3 million children, as displaced at the end of 2022.
In 2021 the East of England was bottom of the UK league table for providing refuge for asylum seekers and resettling refugees.
I ask you to respond compassionately to this humanitarian crisis and take advantage of available central government support. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LAHF), for example, has a £500 million capital fund, available to local authorities in England, specifically to provide accommodation for families who have arrived in the UK via Ukrainian and Afghan resettlement and relocation schemes.
This would not only help address a pressing need but also contribute to a sustainable stock of affordable housing for the future.
South Cambridgeshire District Council has set a precedent and committed to supporting up to 12 refugee families (c. 48 individuals) over a three year period from 2020. We urge you as our elected representatives in Ely to consider doing the same.