Suzanne Harrington: Surely humanity has evolved since Bethlehem?
As we gear up to commemorate a Middle Eastern migrant family giving birth in a stable because they were temporarily homeless, actual Middle Eastern migrant families continue to wash up on the Kent coast on glorified lilos. Two-thirds of those who attempt the 21-mile sea journey between Calais and Dover have legitimate family reasons to come, but no legitimate way of actioning it; to claim asylum in Britain, your feet have got to be already on British soil.
So for ages, people bunked into lorries, or clung to the underneath of them, only to be spat out on the side of unknown UK roads. Some died, many made it. My friend Samir came in the back of an onion lorry, hiding inside a cold dark airless space – the sniffer dogs at the port of Calais could only smell onions. Samir made it, and went straight to a police station to claim asylum; they threw him out, and he slept in a London park. As a victim of torture in his country of origin, he was eventually granted asylum. He runs a community volunteer group now helping others and is studying for another degree.
