The Daily Mail has reached a new low. They just published a story that called the Greek Island of Kos a “disgusting hellhole for British tourists” because of the number of Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers arriving who have fled brutal war and oppression at home.

The story said “penniless refugees have set up camp, sleeping on rubbish-strewn cardboard boxes. Summer break [is] a 'nightmare' for British holidaymakers, who won’t be coming back if it's a refugee camp next year.”

I’m appalled at the callous disdain and lack of compassion for those who are fleeing the most horrific of conditions. The Daily Mail is Britain’s second most read paper, and it should be encouraging compassion not fear and xenophobia. Join me to call on the editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, to make a public apology to the people of Syria and Afghanistan.

I’m fortunate to be safe outside Syria, but I know what it means to be a refugee. And I know what those choosing to take the dangerous trip are giving up. They’re not seeking a new life or economic prosperity -- they’re struggling for survival and it’s the world’s shame that this is one of the very few options they have.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the past four years and so many have been forced to flee it has created the refugee crisis of a generation. Yet the Daily Mail would report on holidaymakers whose summer vacation is being ruined by migrants, not the real hellholes these migrants are fleeing.

The Daily Mail can learn a lesson in humanity from the hundreds of Brits who have signed up to take Syrian refugees into their homes and persuade their politicians to resettle more Syrians, and the tens of thousands around the world who have donated to rescue refugees drowning at sea. It gives me comfort to know that caring people like them are the world’s majority.

Let’s call on Editor Paul Dacre to apologise. Sign now and share widely. Mais, a Syrian campaigner on the Avaaz team