Nicola Sturgeon has offered sanctuary to refugees fleeing Syria and has implored David Cameron to change the UK government's position on the crisis.
.@NicolaSturgeon pledges that she will ensure that Scotland will do everything possible to help the #refugeecrisis. https://t.co/sYV5hpNr3l
In an emotional reply to Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale during First Minister's Questions, the first minister said she was "reduced to tears" by the photo of young boy who drowned on the shore of a Turkish beach on Wednesday.
Sturgeon said she was "very, very angry" about Cameron's approach to the refugee crisis.
As first minister of Scotland I pledge that I will ensure that Scotland does everything possible to help this refugee crisis. I will be far from the only person reduced to tears last night at the picture of a little boy washed up on a beach. That wee boy has touched our hearts. But his is not an isolated tragedy. He and thousands like him whose lives are at risk is not somebody else's responsibility; they are the responsibility of all of us.
So, yes, I am angry, very angry, at the 'walk on by on the other side' approach of the UK government. I implore David Cameron to change his position and change it today. And I pledge as first minister of this country that we stand ready to help offer sanctuary to refugees who need our help.
The leader of the Scottish Conservative party, Ruth Davidson, has also put pressure on Cameron to change his policy on the refugee crisis.
The UK I know has always shouldered its burden in the world. DfID is doing life-saving work abroad but we can - & must - do more at home 1/2
2/2 This is not an immigration issue, it's a humanitarian one, and the human response must be to help. If we don't, what does that make us?
On Thursday morning, Dugdale tweeted a photo of the two drowned boys and demanded that the prime minister "show some humanity and offer refuge".
Will the focus on 1 of 1000s of tragedies move our PM to show some humanity and offer refuge?