38 Degrees members hand in petition to spare Rob Lawrie from prison

Dangerous, desperate and squalid. The refugee camp in Calais is no place for a child. When aid worker, and former British soldier, Rob Lawrie was faced with the pleas of a desperate father, to take his four-year-old daughter to the safety of her family in Leeds, Rob took a risk and tried to bring her with him. Now he might face 5 years in a French jail.

Today, 38 Degrees members handed in a petition to the Foreign Office in an attempt to spare Rob from prison.

The petition calls for right honourable Philip Hammond (the foreign minister) to speak with his French counterparts about clemency in the case of aid worker Rob Lawrie, over trying to reunite four year old Bahar with her family in Leeds.

The petition has been a huge success so far, with almost 50,000 people standing up for Rob. It all started when 38 Degrees member Jim started a campaign to spare Rob from prison.

Here’s what Jim says:

“The current refugee crisis has affected millions of people and by showing solidarity by helping those in The Jungle in Calais, Rob’s life has been changed forever. Knowing that a four-year-old girl could be reunited with her family just 20 miles from where he lives – where she could be warm, fed and safe – meant he took drastic action”