Rabbi Sacks speaks on BBC Newsnight about the European refugee crisis

Rabbi Sacks:
Well, look, Europe is being tested as it is not been tested since the Second World War. Angela Merkel is entirely right here. The European Union was created as a kind of way of saying we recognise human rights after the catastrophe of two World Wars and the Holocaust. And it’s very chilling to see some of these scenarios being re-enacted. I don’t want to make a direct comparison, but now is the time for humanitarian compassion to triumph over what seemed to me to be quite dark and dangerous remarks.

Interviewer:
I mean, in our lifetimes have we seen in Europe a humanitarian crisis like this?

Rabbi Sacks:
We haven’t. And clearly some of the images that emerged in the last few days have brought back images that we thought we’d never see again: a young child lying dead by the seashore, people packed into transports ships, overloaded and capsizing. These take our mind way back to the Second World War, to the Holocaust. And it’s important to remember that one simple humanitarian gesture, Kindertransport, which rescued 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, only 10,000 out of 6 million, but it lit a light in one of the darkest periods of history. And I hope that European countries will realise that the very ideals on which the European Union were founded are being tested right now.

Interviewer:
Let’s bring this back to Britain for a moment.

Rabbi Sacks:
Sure

Interviewer:
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has said that he is certain that Britain will fulfil what he calls our moral obligations. For you, what would that mean Britain needs to do now?

Rabbi Sacks:
A very clear and conspicuous humanitarian gesture like Kindertransport. We recognise that the Prime Minister-

Interviewer:
How many people should we take?

Rabbi Sacks:
I think 10,000 is a figure that we could handle. It’s a figure to which Britain would respond. The churches, the religious groups, the charities would all join in, local civic groups. And I think we’d be better for doing that.

Interviewer:
Germany is taking 800,000 migrants this year. We are taking a fraction of that. How do you feel about that?

Rabbi Sacks:
Well, look, there’s no doubt that the primary burden is actually being felt by Turkey, by Lebanon, and by Jordan, who have taken huge numbers. Germany is clearly wrestling with its past and showing that it has learned from its past, and it really is becoming a very signal of humanitarianism. I don’t think we can go that far, but I think the British tradition of being a place of refuge for those who are at risk of their liberty and their lives should guide us now to being more generous rather than less so.

Interviewer:
Lord Sacks, many thanks