Evening Standard comment: It is right to bring our children back from Syria; An unjustified rail strike; Saluting London theatre

Evening Standard Comment25 November 2019
WEST END FINAL

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The announcement by the Government that a number of British orphans whose parents were supporters of the Islamic State are to be repatriated from Syria is welcome news.

As the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab correctly said when disclosing the decision to arrange their return, each of these unfortunate children is an innocent who deserves our sympathy and support, regardless of whatever heinous crimes might have been committed by their parents.

Many will have been subjected to horrendous experiences of the sort that no child should have to suffer and it is right that they should now be given the chance to rebuild their lives in this country.

We congratulate the Prime Minister for ensuring that they can.

Many challenges will inevitably remain.

The first will be to find new, safe and loving homes for each child.

It might be possible to place some with relatives, but others will probably have to spend time in the care system while the search for a suitable new family is conducted. In either case, adequate resources must be provided to help these vulnerable youngsters overcome the trauma they have suffered and make what for many could be a difficult adjustment to a life of relative normality.

None of this will be easy, and the courts, social workers, psychologists and others who will be charged with the task will need to maintain an enduring focus on each child’s fate.

Another critical point to consider is that these orphans are only some among a much larger group of children born to British parents still stranded in Syria.

The Government, which should be praised for resisting opposition to repatriation, including some from within its own ranks, should now press ahead with assisting others to return. In this there will be practical difficulties, such as confirming parentage and nationality in some cases, or deciding whether to allow a child to return with a radicalised parent.

But none of this alters the fundamental duty of care that this country has towards its stranded young citizens, or our obligation not to shift the problem of caring for these damaged children on to other nations.

That means that while we look forward now to the imminent return of this first group of orphans, we hope other young Britons will soon be following them home.

An unjustified rail strike

The RMT union has made a lamentable decision to press ahead with its planned 27 days of strikes on the South Western Railway network, covering virtually every day next month and New Year’s Day, in its seemingly interminable dispute over the issue of guards on trains.

The union, which has today won support from Labour for its militant stance, claims the disruption is necessary because it is not satisfied with the rail company’s explicit assurances that its services will continue to run with both a driver and a guard.

The reason is that under the company’s plans the latter’s role would no longer include closing the train doors.

The union deems this to be unacceptable in an act of unjustified intransigence that seems, as critics allege, more about maintaining its ability to bring services to a halt than any genuine concern for passenger welfare. Commuters will be dismayed and the union should think again.

There is no excuse for this strike.

Saluting London theatre

Many of the finest stage stars will gather on Sunday for this year’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards in what promises to be a glittering event, presented by Londoner Cush Jumbo.

We look forward to acclaiming the winners, but commend too all the other actors, directors, writers and backstage workers whose wonderful talents make the capital’s theatre such a world-class success.

Listen to today's The Leader podcast here:

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