Refugee Crisis - how to get involved

I'm driven to blog today due to the recent events covered in the media regarding refugees, primarily from Syria, due to the events taking place in the Middle East.

I'm not going to discuss the rights and wrongs of the situation (even though I do have some fairly clear views about it all), but there is a great deal of people wanting to get involved in some way, and I thought that it might be worth briefly summarising some of the online petitions that you can sign.

If you are a UK resident, you can sign this petition on the official UK Parliament website to "Accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK"

For US residents, there is a petition on the White House website.

Change.org has a petition to the UK Home Secretary, titled "No more drownings. Immediate sanctuary for those fleeing from war" and another to the Prime Minister, titled "David Cameron: Britain must accept its fair share of refugees seeking safety in Europe"

Avaaz has petitions also, "EU: Stop the drownings", and an equivalent for the UK https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_drownings_uk/?fpla as well as a page for those willing to volunteer to support refugees in various ways

For those in the UK, you can also contact your MP, send them a letter or an email - find them at http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/

For more ways to help, you may want to take a look at the Independent's "Five practical ways you can help refugees trying to find safety in Europe" article - a number of charities are involved supporting refugees.