Laura Cretney has witnessed first-hand the terrible conditions that refugees fleeing war-torn Syria have to face.

After studying Middle East politics at the SOAS University of London, Laura lived in Oman, and travelled throughout the region, working on development projects in Iraq and many other Gulf states.

After returning home, she opened Al Ishara, a Middle East political and development consultancy firm, which works alongside many UK-based international development organisations that run Foreign Office and Department for International Development projects in the region.

With the war in Syria drawing to a close, Laura said there will be no quick answer to the plight of the displaced Syrian refugees.

’The big question is can refugees who have left Syria now return, now that the war, on whatever terms, seems to be coming to an end?’ said Laura.

’There are various reasons why that is not an option for many, partly because there is nothing left for most people.

’Their homes have been destroyed, their towns, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, roads, they have all gone.

’There is also a lot of fear about revenge attacks from the Assad regime against communities that sided with the opposition, or demographically found themselves part of the opposing groups.’

She believes that the time is right for the Isle of Man Government to look again at its decision not to accept refugees, and believes that Garff MHK Daphne Caine was right to ask for a review.

’One thing that doesn’t seem to be considered at all is how this can actually benefit the Isle of Man,’ said Laura.

’A lot of people are coming forward and mentioning things like homelessness in the island and the use of the food banks. But we don’t really have unemployment here, and we do have a lot of jobs that we need to fill.

’Just in the last week there was the issue of the high salaries paid to consultants, with the excuse that we simply can’t get the staff. What if we could find qualified people who have been resettled in the UK for those jobs?

’Also, there is the perception that there will be people coming here and claiming welfare and scrounging off benefits. That’s just not true.

’The people want to work. They also ultimately want to be back in Syria, so they are not expecting to come and beg, or scrounge off another country.

’If they are working here, they are paying money back in taxes, which helps the people of the Isle of Man, and I think there is a lot of misunderstanding around that.

’I don’t think that was properly addressed by the Government when they made that decision two years ago,’ she said.

’It’s not a clear cut "yes the Isle of Man should take refugees".

’It isn’t at all, but I think that the decision should be made for the right reasons, and not because it was simply a politically difficult question, and easier to make a donation, which is what a lot of people perceive it to be.’

She added: ’It is also worth thinking about whether a more sensible way of handling this is asking whether you get a better return on your investment from actually supporting people now, so that they can actually contribute to help the rebuilding process.

’This would mean that Syria, in the future, will not be completely reliant on the international community.

’This is what Syrians want.’