What this German football club just did highlights Britain's shameful record on refugees

Borussia Dortmund invited 220 refugees to its game on Thursday night - more than the number of Syrians who have been welcomed to the UK through the government's official refugee relocation scheme.

The German club invited the newcomers to their Europa League match against Norwegian side Odds Ballklubb on Thursday evening as part of the "angekommen" initiative which helps refugees resettle in the city.

Pictures of the group watching the game were shared on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #RefugeesWelcome, which has been used before by the club's fans as well as at pro-refugee demonstrations across Germany.

To date, Germany has welcomed more refugees than any other country in Europe and chancellor Angela Merkel announced last week that the country would start allowing refugees to remain there even if they had first arrived in another EU country.

In comparison, by the end of June, the British government's Vulnerable Person Relocation scheme had invited just 187 Syrian refugees since being launched by Theresa May in January 2014. The government says it has granted asylum to more than 4,000 Syrians who have arrived through other means since the humanitarian crisis started there. There are thought to have been 6.5 million people displaced by the war in Syria.

Dormtund's move on Thursday was not the first time a German football club has shown solidarity with refugees. In April, we reported on the 300 who were given free tickets by Dynamo Dresden, and others have been sharing photographs of several clubs whose fans have flown welcoming banners at their games.

HT Joseph Willits

More: Dynamo Dresden offers tickets to 300 refugees in a bid to show solidarity

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