Migrants arriving in Northern Ireland 'would face tough situation'

A group of refugees walk along the railway tracks near the town of Roszke, Hungary, on Thursday after crossing the border from Serbia

People who work to support refugees and asylum seekers in Northern Ireland have said they fear if large numbers of displaced people come to NI they will face a difficult situation.

Pressure has grown on the UK to take more of the people fleeing from Syria.

It follows scenes of bodies of Greece-bound migrants, including a three-year-old boy, washed up on a Turkish beach..

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Northern Ireland "could take a couple of thousand refugees" at first.

Justin Kouame works for the Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS), which currently has about 500 members.

"They come here every day, it's like a sanctuary for them. They will get advice and support," he said.

"This humanitarian crisis brings back memories.

"And you know if people come here it will put a lot of pressure on small organisations like NICRAS. We cannot prepare for it, we just have to wait and see what's going to happen next."

He said a lot would depend on the goodwill and generosity of local people.

"People taking boats, some of them don't even know how to swim, but they're risking their lives like we saw yesterday on TV, losing a member of your family or your child," he said.

"This is a drastic situation for someone to put themselves into."

Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP, said: ""We have a history in Northern Ireland... one thinks of the Vietnamese boat people or the people from Hong Kong who came and settled. When it comes to refugees, people fleeing religious persecution, we need to make a distinction between that and what are called economic migrants.

"We are talking about people who have been driven from their own country because of religious hatred. We have a tradition of opening our country to such people and we should do it."

Belfast Lord Mayor Arder Carson, Sinn Féin, has called on everyone in the city to show support for people caught up in the refugee crisis engulfing Europe.

He urged people to go to a vigil on Monday at the City Hall at 17:00 BST, which, he said, would "underline the city's reputation for compassion and generosity and willingness to help others".

"These are real people, it is a humanitarian tragedy, and the untold suffering that they are enduring in the 21st century is almost beyond belief," he said.

"We have consulted with the agencies working with the refugees and they have made it clear that it is too difficult logistically to send goods such as blankets, clothes and food, what is really required is money."

On Friday, children from a Londonderry school - St Oliver Plunkett Primary School - sold vegetables from the school garden to raise funds for Syrian refugees.

David McNarry, UKIP, said it was important to ask how Northern Ireland would cope with an influx of refugees.

"Are we going to bring people in to give them shelter, heat and food? There is nobody who would say: 'I wouldn't do that'," he said.

"But are we going to give them permanent residence? Where will the houses come from, where will the jobs come from and where will the school places be found eventually? How will that sit with people who, today, in my country, are looking for a job or they are waiting on a house and they are unable to get their child the school place that they want?"

Sami Ibrahim, who came to Northern Ireland from southern Sudan six years ago, said more people will come from Syria because of the violence there.

Pupils from St Oliver Plunkett Primary School in Londonderry raised money for Syrian refugees on Friday

"People here, they struggle and the refugees they already struggle, so everyone's going to pay the price, all of us," he said.

Meanwhile, Irish Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the Republic of Ireland may take in 1,800 refugees.