1. Emergency Motions

2. Emergency Motion: #RefugeesWelcomeHere
NUS Notes:
1. Since March 2011, an estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes to take refuge as internally displaced or in neighbouring countries (over 3 mill). These numbers are constantly increasing.
2. 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum within the EU, and members have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 places. 85% of these have been pledged by Germany.
3. The United Kingdom has received just over 7,000 applications for asylum from Syrian nationals, significantly fewer than European partners like Austria (18,647) and Sweden (64,685). According to Eurostat, there were around 29,100 Syrians seeking asylum for the first time in Europe in the first three months of 2015.
4. The refugee crisis has developed further as Syrians make up on average almost one out of every four refugees in the world.
5. On the 2nd of September 2015, the news of a 3-year old Syrian child found dead on a Turkish shore whilst trying to reach safety was the latest in a series of reports on the deaths of thousands of refugees fleeing oppression and war.

3. Emergency Motion: #RefugeesWelcomeHere
6. The UNHCR’s call for a further 130,000 resettlement spots in the EU has thus far seen little enthusiastic response. Of all countries in the EU accepting refugees, the UK has resettled the lowest number.
7. Neighbouring countries around Syria have absorbed the majority of the refugee influx, the EU is only seeing a fraction.
8. The Gateway Protection Programme is a scheme by the British government, co-funded by the EU and in partnership with the UNHCR, to resettle a quota of 750 refugees per year in the UK.
9. There are eighteen local authorities who currently participate, with eight in the North West and three in Yorkshire and the Humber.
10. There have been calls from the Refugee Council to offer humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees aside from the Gateway quota, “to ensure that resettlement opportunities continue to be available to refugees from the rest of the world”.
11. Under pressure from international media attention, the British government has increased the number of refugees it will accept to 20,000 over the next five years.

4. Emergency Motion: #RefugeesWelcomeHere
NUS Further Believes:
1. In the current context, quotas are arbitrary numbers that don’t reflect the scale of the refugee crisis.
2. Increasing the number of refugee re-settlements from Syria should not be at the expense of greater restrictions on the ability of people from other countries to claim asylum in the UK.
3. Accepting 4000 Syrian refugees a year is unacceptable, while Germany has announced it will be taking in 500,000 annually.
4. There has been a petition lobbying David Cameron to take action which has received over 200,000 signatures
5. The UK has a moral obligation to help those fleeing conflict and violence by providing a place for refuge.
6. NUS, Students Unions and institutions are in prime position to offer practical support for refugees already in the country, and to add the voice of 7 million students to the call for the UK to take up its share of the responsibility.
7. A press statement has come from the Petitions Committee stating that because “the House of Commons has already had several opportunities to debate this issue, the Committee decided that the time was not right for another debate on the same issue.”
8. That a further debate should go forward in the House of Commons, to resolve how the UK plays its vital part.

5. Emergency Motion: #RefugeesWelcomeHere
NUS Resolves:
1. For the National President to write to the Prime minister to call on the UK to accept more refugees and for NUS to publish a statement in support of the UK accepting more refugees.
2. To strongly challenge existing Home Office policies regarding asylum seekers, including the decision to deport child refugees once they turn 18, and not allowing those awaiting asylum decisions to access tertiary education.
3. To adopt the work that the NUS International Students Campaign has begun with STAR to raise awareness on discriminatory Home Office policies.
4. To encourage Student Unions to host donation centres for refugees currently living in desperate conditions in Calais, as Kings, LSE, Bradford, Edinburgh University, Ayrshire college and other unions have done.
5. To create a template letter to be issued to CMs to enable them to lobby their MP and local councils on the issue, and encouraging them to take action including local demonstrations that are taking place on the 12th of September.
6. To encourage SU’s to build links with groups such as the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum and Citizens UK (if they don’t already exist), as Middlesex have done, to amplify the call for increasing the number of resettlements and increasing the number of local Councils involved in such schemes.

6. Emergency Motion: #RefugeesWelcomeHere
NUS Resolves:
7. To launch a national lobby of institutions (universities and colleges) to provide open classes and lectures (i.e. English language support) for refugees who wish to access educational facilities, as well as facilitating social learning in community environments to welcome refugees and help them access public services. In addition to this, to support the Citizens UK campaign to call on all British universities to offer ten studentships or bursaries to resettled refugees, and the International Students Campaign’s scholarship plans, so they can continue their education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
8. To encourage SU’s to partner with local charities and organisations working on housing and hosting projects, as listed on the No Accommodation network (
9. To oppose and condemn the demonization of innocent refugees coming here for shelter, and ensure the debate around the crisis is not neglected once mainstream media coverage ceases. 

7. Emergency Motion: Support the Open Dover, Open Europe Demos
NEC Notes:
1. The deaths of migrants crossing the Mediterranean: 2,700 so far this year, according to UNHCR
2. The appalling conditions of the lives of migrants in the camps around Calais, and the danger of death and injury they face in their journeys across Europe and the Channel
3. There will be simultaneous Open Border demonstrations in Dover and Calais on 17th October in solidarity with migrants under the title Open Dover, Open Europe.
4. That these demonstrations have been called by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) and NCAFC are organising the Dover demonstration and French groups are organising the Calais demonstration.

8. Emergency Motion: Support the Open Dover, Open Europe Demos
NEC Believes:
1. That Europe is a rich continent and has the resources to ensure a good life for everyone – migrant and local, black and white.
2. That the death, misery and waste of human potential could be ended if Europe opened its borders and let people enter safely and live here in dignity.
3. That the inhabitants of the Calais camps should be allowed into Britain.
4. That anti-migrant agitation is a form of racism.
5. That no human is illegal.
6. That the treatment of and mainstream political and media discourse around Asylum speakers and migrants is unacceptable.
7. That we must reframe the debate and actively show solidarity with migrants.

9. Emergency Motion: Support the Open Dover, Open Europe Demos
NEC Resolves:
1. To endorse the “Open Dover; Open Europe” demonstrations.
2. To promote the demo among its members and on social media and encourage CMs to do the same.
3. To contribute £1000 to Calais Migrant Solidarity to pay for aid and contribute £600 to NCAFC to assist with the organisation of the demonstration