Manx students petition Tynwald to accept Syrian refugees

Tynwald rejected a motion to investigate accepting Syrian refugees on the Isle of Man in 2018

School pupils have called on the Manx parliament to revisit a decision not to accept Syrian refugees on the island.

Four year 11 pupils have submitted a petition asking Tynwald to set up a committee to "investigate the feasibility" of resettling refugees.

An attempt to do so in 2018 was rejected by one vote, while a 2017 petition was also turned down.

Daphne Caine MHK, who tabled the 2018 motion, said she hoped to put it before next month's Tynwald sitting.

Since 2014 more than 11,000 refugees have been resettled in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

Pupils Sam Rowe, Breeshey Shaw, Joe Locke and Alex Kissack submitted a petition to Daphne Caine MHK

Last year Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the island had a duty to "play its part" and foreign aid was a "more effective" way to provide support.

The pupils from Ballakermeen High School received almost 200 signatures in support of their petition, which they handed to Mrs Caine at the legislative buildings on Monday.

One of them, 15-year-old Breeshey Shaw, said the government "could do more and they should do more".

She believed the Isle of Bute, which has a population of just over 7,000 and accepted 24 refugees in 2015, provided an example for the Isle of Man.

Mrs Caine, who has supported the students, said she had not been "convinced by the evidence" against taking in refugees from Syria and it "should not detract" from social policies to support Manx residents.