Updated Saturday 10am - Birzebbuga councillor Hermann Schiavone will be proposing that his council adopts a Syrian refugee family.

In a post on Facebook, Dr Schiavone said:

"Faced with such a human tragedy we cannot remain passive. I will be doing my part. I will be proposing that the Birzebbuga council adopts and finances a Syrian refugee family in our village.

"If every local council in our country does the same, we will be sending a strong sign of the solidarity the Maltese people are renowned for to the rest of Europe."

In a tweet, Sliema councillor Michael Briguglio said he supported the initiative and would be proposing the same within his council.

IN THE UK: 40 COUNCILS OFFER SANCTUARY

In the UK, more  than 40 local councilshave responded to an appeal to offer sanctuary to people fleeing the fighting in Syria.

Members of the public have also shown their support by donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to charities working to help refugees.

David Cameron has bowed to intensifying political pressure and announced that Britain would take "thousands more" refugees from the camps in countries around Syria. 

The shadow home secretary said that within 24 hours of her asking councils in England, Scotland and Wales asking if they would be prepared to help in providing places for refugees, more than 40 had written back offering support.
 
"Already councils from across the country have said they want to work with the Government to help Britain offer sanctuary to more refugees,"  Yvette Cooper said.

"There is a real determination and rising sense of moral purpose across Britain to help desperate families. But now the Prime Minister needs to match it.

"I'm once again urging the Government to work with councils to offer as many as 10,000 places for refugees and be part of a national mission to deal with this terrible humanitarian crisis." 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.