The service for Lidia Venegas­ at St Michael’s Church 

PEOPLE may ask themselves where we are in the world when a local newspaper feels it has to help organise a memorial service for a woman found dead in the street, (For Lidia: She was ‘one of us’ says priest at our memorial service for woman who died in the cold, January 27).

As the search for next of kin continued, so many people were moved by the passing of Lidia Venegas­ that we felt we had to play a part in responding to this hurt.

We are grateful to St Michael’s Church for being the hosts. The attendance shows once more Camden is a community that cares, even if sometimes we are at a loss over what to do.

Lidia did not go unseen, even if just for her shelter in Kentish Town Road constructed from traffic fences and polystyrene. It is a tragedy of our times – and we fear not the last of its kind – that she died outside in the freezing cold.

We are told that it was her own “independence” which meant that she refused help, and without knowing exactly how she felt, it would be unfair to speculate too much on her choices. But Camden Council’s debate on refugees and asylum on Monday evening may in itself add to the clues.

In reporting on Lidia’s death, we received a message from a confused reader who said that English people were dying on the streets while foreigners were being given social housing.

Lidia, as you will have read, was Bolivian and it is surely true that many foreign nationals, for various reasons, are frightened of what might happen to them if they seek assistance from the authorities. It is considered risky, and this should be unsurprising given the language that our own government often uses about those seeking a safe haven.

Our local politicians clearly feel they cannot look the other way now we have people fleeing their home countries for fear of being killed – Ukrainians following Afghans in search of safety. They are not the only two countries from which people are desperate to escape and all members agreed that Camden should be declared “borough of sanctuary”.

It has taken some time – it was first suggested when the image of a Syrian boy dead on a Turkish beach shocked the world in 2015 – but the urge to help is greater than ever.

We know from comments left on our social media channels that not everybody is enthusiastic and it is only natural for people who have lived here all their lives and have suffered through the pandemic and this cost of living crisis to ask where their help and support is?

We must try not to see it as an either/or, and demand better for all. This is simply about having a human response to everybody who needs a helping hand in a time of absolute crisis.

Camden has been enriched by its diversity, and so many refugees strive to help make the borough a better place. Some are now councillors too.

In the toughest of times, this sense of humanity – not hostility – can shine through.