NOTES

Yesterday’s Desired Haven post brought in a few questions. The title and the bottom text are from the 107th Psalm (the King James’ version, which I prefer). As the Humanities are phased out of education, fewer will recognise what once was basic knowledge. The tragic family’s names were noted by BBC News who had spoken to the children’s aunt.

“Alan set out before dawn that morning in Turkey for the Greek island of Kos with his father Abdullah, mother Rehanna, and five-year-old brother Ghalib. The Kurdis wanted to reach Canada to reunite with Abdullah’s sister Tima, a hairdresser in Vancouver.

His name has been spelt ‘Aylan’ by much of the media, including the BBC, but his aunt Tima told us today that this was a Turkish version of the name given by Turkish officials – his Kurdish name was Alan.“

For context, the current news cycle also covers the rise in the number of millionaires in the UK. Here is a link to the number of second homes in this country whose disgusting governing class think we might possibly stretch to taking 5,000 refugees. I am old enough to remember playing as a child on bombsites, here where rationing continued into the 1950s, in a Europe ravaged by a decade of wars, where millions of what were then called “DPs” (Displaced Persons) roamed or were held in camps. We dealt with that then; as in 1956, we managed to absorb 20,000 (ironically) Hungarians fleeing the Soviet invasion.