Sir, – Michael Cullen (Letters, February 24th) defends Egypt’s decision not to allow refugees to cross the Rafah border from Gaza into its territory, saying that country has “no obligation or responsibility” to accede to this “unacceptable demand”.
Over the last two years, six million Ukrainian refugees have been taken in by the European Union, three times the entire population of Gaza. What “obligation or responsibility” did the EU have to these refugees which Egypt now does not now have to refugees on its borders?
In the first four months after the Russian invasion, Hungary – second only to Israel as the left’s international bogeyman – had taken in over a million Ukrainian refugees, equivalent to 10 per cent of its own population. If Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán had built a giant wall and razor-wire fences to keep Ukrainians out – as Egypt has done on its border and Gaza – I wonder what the international reaction would have been?
The unspoken reality is that it suits Israel’s critics for refugees in Gaza to stay in Gaza to be used as political pawns to pile pressure on the Israeli government.
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Those who preach to Israel to display basic humanity are notably reluctant to call on Egypt and other Arab dictatorships to do likewise. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.