JK Rowling joins prominent figures urging UK to take in desperate refugees

'If you can't imagine yourself in one of those boats, you have something missing'

JK Rowling will not be releasing a 'romance' novel anytime soon (Getty Images)

JK Rowling has joined a number of prominent voices urging the Government to welcome its share of refugees risking their lives to flee war ravaged countries.

The Harry Potter author devoted her Twitter feed to the crisis on Thursday after a devastating picture of a dead Syrian boy lying face down on a beach sparked a huge swell of support for The Independent’s #refugeeswelcome petition.

More than 2,500 refugees have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean since January. The Independent chose to publish the image of the toddler on its front page in an effort to convey the scale of suffering and death endured by millions.

Rowling rewteeted a number of posts highlighting the plight of displaced men, women and children and called on the Prime Minister to join thousands expressing support for quotas.

In a poignant post summarising the crisis, she wrote:

Rowling’s comments come after Boris Johnson became the most senior Conservative figure to urge David Cameron to take action and stop more bodies washing up on Europe’s shores.

Other political leaders from across the spectrum are also putting pressure on Mr Cameron to act, while a host of actors, musicians and famous figures joined almost 100,000 people who have signed our petition.

The Independent is calling on the Government to take in a quota of refugees and alleviate the burden Italy and Greece are experiencing by renouncing the Dublin Regulation, which states that refugees must claim asylum in the country through which they first entered.

Taking 10,000 in the UK would equate to just 10 per county and borough.