Lily Allen defends her ‘apology to refugees’ comment against online critics

'It's not about me or my life, it's about the lives of children'

Lily Allen has taken to Twitter to defend her comments in which she ‘apologised on behalf of the UK’ to refugee children in Calais.

Allen was appearing on the BBC for Victoria Derbyshire’s show when she met children staying at the migrant ‘jungle’. Among the 1,000 youngsters living there without parents, Allen met with a 13-year-old boy who fled Afghanistan where he says ‘the Taliban were trying to kill me’.

After he unveiled the extent of his ordeal and that he would try to smuggle his way into the UK after authorities would take too long to process his move, the ‘Smile’ singer broke down in tears and said: “At three points in your life [the UK] has put you in danger. We bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban, and now put you in danger of risking your life to get into our country. I apologise on behalf of my country, for what we’ve put you through.”

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Allen’s comments have been met with waves of online criticism and abuse, and she has spent much of the day defending the programming and fighting for the rights of refugee children:

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You can donate to help the victims of the migrant crisis throughout Europe via Help Refugees UK here.

Meanwhile, Ed Harcourt, Carl Barat, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and The Magic Numbers head up a benefit gig for child refugees in London next month.
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