Syrian refugees and advocacy groups are mourning the loss of Jo Cox, a “rising star” in British politics who acted as a vocal advocate for refugees.
Cox was killed Thursday after being shot three times and stabbed multiple times. The man suspected in the attack reportedly had links to an American white supremacist organization, according to a U.S. civil rights group.
READ MORE: Who is Jo Cox? British MP killed on West Yorkshire street
Cox was a fervent supporter of Britain remaining in the EU, but she was also a champion for immigration, refugees and bringing an end to the Syrian conflict. She served as co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party parliamentary group and routinely called on Britain to aid civilians caught up in Syrian conflict zones.
Shortly after news of Cox’s death broke, refugees and rights organizations began sharing their condolences on Twitter.
In April, her Parliamentary speech regarding Syrian child refugees was widely celebrated by rights organizations.
“Children are being killed on their way to school, children as young as seven are being forcefully recruited to the frontline and one in three children have grown up knowing nothing but fear and war,” she said.
“Those children have been exposed to things no child should ever witness, and I know I would risk life and limb to get my two precious babies out of that hellhole.”
The group representing the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces in the EU described Cox as a “tireless advocate” for the Syrian people.
“Humanity lost a champion when Jo Cox was stolen from us,” read a message from Syria Solidarity UK, a British activist group that supports the Syrian revolution.
“Syrian groups in Britain learned of her last year as a new MP prepared to speak up on Syria after two years of near silence in the U.K. parliament. Her view of the crisis was both moral and realistic, rigorous in seeking to understand what was happening, and clear in seeing what could and should be done.”
READ MORE: Suspect in killing of British MP Jo Cox had links to US neo-Nazis: Rights group
On Friday, British Prime Minister David Cameron asked that intolerance and hatred to be driven out of politics, while he was paying tribute to Cox at a growing memorial in Leeds. In a show of political unity, Cameron and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn visited the site of the killing in Birstall, about 320 kilometres north of London.
Cameron urged people to “value and see as precious the democracy that we have on these islands.”
“Where we see hatred, where we find division, where we see intolerance, we must drive it out of our politics and out of our public life and out of our communities,” he said.
— With files from Nick Logan and The Associated Press
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