A street collection held in the Isle of Man last month as part of the Island’s response to the current refugee crisis has raised more than ?5,000 – and sparked further consideration of how the Isle of Man could help the plight of those affected.

The money, collected by volunteers in Douglas, Ramsey, Peel, Castletown and Port Erin, has been divided between the five international aid agencies represented on the Island who are part of the Disasters Emergency Committee and who are working directly with refugees either in Syria or the surrounding areas. They are British Red Cross, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Oxfam and Save the Children.

The on-Island street collection was co-ordinated by the One World Centre, with the backing of the Isle of Man Government’s International Development Committee. The IDC itself has donated ?10,000 to each of the aid agencies with a further ?50,000 donated to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide assistance to refugees arriving in the Mediterranean.

Despite the onset of autumn and colder weather, there appears to be no slowdown in the numbers fleeing from Syria and other conflict-ridden countries in the region. It is believed around 5,000 refugees, mostly from Syria, are still trying to cross the sea from Turkey to Greece every day. There are around 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey as well as over a million in Lebanon and more than 628,000 in Jordan. It’s estimated some 2,643 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean so far in 2015.

Rosemary Clarke, Director of the One World Centre, said, “The response to the Emergency Refugee Appeal from members of the public has been fantastic and we are very grateful to those who helped with the collection as well as to all those who donated.

“Many people reflected with us on the difficulties of solving the refugee issue and were asking what else could be done to help. Some people have offered to host refugee families if the Government accepts them into the Isle of Man and others were looking for ways of donating food or clothes.

“As a result of the many questions we have had, we are now planning to hold a meeting to discuss the best ways in which the Island can continue to help and what we can practically and realistically offer to those affected.  This will be open to anyone who would like to attend and if you would like to get involved, please contact us at the One World Centre on 800464 or by email to info@owciom.org in the first instance.”