Dear Editor,
As a former politician, I watch events across the world with growing sadness.
From Ukraine to the Middle East, and now the tragic scenes in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, where around 60,000 people crossed from Morocco and many have since been returned, with dozens losing their lives, we are witnessing the devastating human cost of conflict, instability and desperation.
War does not simply destroy cities; it destroys families.
It brings hunger, fear and hopelessness.
No parent wants to see their child starve or live in constant danger.
No family willingly leaves behind generations of history, their home and the country they love.
Leaving the land of your birth is almost always a last resort, taken only when every other hope has disappeared.
Behind every refugee or migrant is a human story.
Most are not searching for luxury; they are searching for safety, food and the chance to give their children a future.
The world now faces a choice.
We can continue down the path of division, conflict and destruction, or we can return to the values that helped rebuild the world after the Second World War: dialogue, diplomacy, respect for sovereign nations and international cooperation.
No disagreement has ever truly been solved by taking innocent lives.
Peace is not a sign of weakness; it is the greatest strength a nation can show.
If we want fewer humanitarian crises and fewer people forced to flee their homes, we must build bridges instead of battlefields.
History will judge us not by the wars we fought, but by whether we had the wisdom and compassion to prevent them.
The choice is ours.
Jefferson Horsley
Share