This week RCK volunteers joined the warm welcome of Amal to Calais, Folkestone, and London, to a place of safety. Amal has traveled over 8,000 miles from the Syrian Border in Turkey to highlight those seeking a better life.
Let us take a minute to think of the refugees who are just starting out on their journey...
1 in 3 Afghans are food insecure
It is nearly 4157miles from Kabul to London.
If there were no police, no push-backs, no borders, no winters, no oceans, no mountains, no illness, no rivers to pass, you had a place to sleep and good food, you may just be able to cover 20 miles a day. That journey alone would take around 7 months.
This tells us that the recent refugees fleeing Afghanistan will not start arriving in Europe until around early spring. The refugees we have seen arriving on the planes are the few receiving government support, leave to work and the right to accommodation. This same aid won’t be afforded to the refugees that at this moment in time are having to walk. These people won’t receive the protection of our governments, nor shelter or financial support.
Refugee Community Kitchen is now preparing for a long winter of new arrivals fleeing war, torture, discrimination, and for their lives and that of their families. To be there with a hot nourishing meal, to be consistent and kind.
To give them hope as Amal has given us hope