I write letters
Nov. 26th, 2021 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susanreadsThere are a lot of things that make me go "our politics is shit, what else is new" but something about what happened in the Channel on Wednesday, the reactions to it, and a flood of emails I got on Thursday, made me finally put ... whatever the laptop equivalent of "pencil to paper" is.
To BoJo and Priti Patel:
The MP one is based mostly on a template from Refugee Action:
Dear $MY_TORY_MP,
The Nationality and Borders Bill will punish people seeking safety in the UK by shutting out those fleeing war, persecution, and human rights abuses. It will not fulfil its stated purpose of creating a 'firm and fair' asylum system. Most worryingly, it is unlikely to stop horrific human tragedies of the like we've just witnessed in the Channel.
Please read the urgent briefing from JCWI (https://www.jcwi.org.uk/briefing-tragedy-in-the-channel), and take this opportunity to stand up for refugee protection. Nobody would risk their life to make a dangerous journey unless they had no other option. It is not possible to make an asylum claim from outside the UK; therefore, those seeking protection are in too many cases forced to risk their lives just to access their right to claim asylum. Many of those who arrive by boat are subsequently recognised as refugees by the Home Office.
The UK has a proud history of offering safety to those in need, most recently evidenced by the huge success of the Syrian resettlement scheme, and the Government has claimed that this Bill will see the UK take its place as a global leader in refugee protection by continuing this tradition and creating more safe and legal routes. Yet, despite the Government's promises to increase 'safe and legal' routes for people urgently requiring safety around the world, the Bill contains no such commitments. The Government has boasted that this Bill will create a 'Global Britain', able to act as a force for good; instead, this legislation reneges on our international responsibilities to those fleeing war and persecution.
Under the provisions of the Bill, many of those fleeing persecution arriving in the UK will be criminalised, have their asylum claims deemed 'inadmissible', and be at risk of removal from the UK. Yet, recent research has shown that the majority of people taking irregular routes to reach the UK are in genuine need of protection, including people fleeing from Afghanistan. All that this rule change will do is worsen the appallingly long wait times many of those seeking asylum already face.
The Bill will see people seeking asylum forced into newly created reception centres, likely to be little more than detention by default. Even if granted asylum in the UK, they will only ever get precarious protection and will have fewer rights than other refugees, a move that the UN has asserted contravenes international law. These changes will create a two-tier asylum system which will cost the Home Office vast amounts of time and taxpayers' money.
The Bill also contains draconian, and likely unworkable, plans to introduce offshoring. Australia's 'Pacific Solution', the offshoring model on which this provision is based, has been an abject failure. Imposing this sort of model on people in the asylum system will cause huge suffering for people who are already in distress.
The public does not support this Bill. Over 179,000 people signed petitions opposing the Bill, and recent polling carried out by Refugee Action showed that three in five voters were against plans to punish refugees who arrive here through 'irregular routes' with differential treatment, as the measures in the Bill will do if passed.
I hope you will be able to attend the debate at Report Stage to scrutinise the Government on these important issues, to support amendments which challenge them (amendments 8 and 11 in particular), and ensure the fundamental rights of refugees and those seeking asylum are protected. It is only through such changes that we will be able to keep people safe and finally stop Channel boat crossings. Here's the briefing link again: https://www.jcwi.org.uk/briefing-tragedy-in-the-channel
Yours sincerely,
$ME
To BoJo and Priti Patel:
No one would attempt to cross the Channel in a small boat if they had another choice. Almost all of those who do are coming here to seek asylum, as is their legal right. Numbers have increased in recent years because you've closed all the safe routes: resettlement (for the first time in many years, we have no commitment to resettlement under the UN system or otherwise), family reunion (which was excessively strict, but at least it was there), and the Dubs scheme for unaccompanied children (with the pretext that space has run out, when in fact many councils have offered spaces that you haven't responded to).
Almost every part of the Nationality and Borders Bill will only make this situation worse. The best way to actually oppose the criminal networks that are exploiting these people would be to reopen all those safe routes, and add either a humanitarian visa specifically for asylum seekers, or a way to claim asylum at an embassy abroad. Reducing the causes of people fleeing - e.g. stop arming despots, do something about climate change - would also help.
You say people should claim asylum at the first safe country they get to, but we have no land borders except with Ireland, and receive less than our share of asylum seekers in Europe. The people who are determined to come here specifically do so for one of a handful of reasons: family reunion; an existing connection with the UK such as having studied here; they know some English and no other European language. In the 20th century, the UK earned a reputation as a place of safety. We no longer deserve it, but desperate people fleeing across a hostile landscape don't know that. They certainly don't know the ins and outs of our asylum system, so any supposed deterrent effect of changes in the law is completely useless.
I'm sure you'll use this tragedy as an excuse to "crack down" on "migrants", piling more cruelty on top of what they've already been subjected to. I implore you to think again, and redesign your policies from the ground up, starting with international law and the principle that human beings are human beings.
The MP one is based mostly on a template from Refugee Action:
Dear $MY_TORY_MP,
The Nationality and Borders Bill will punish people seeking safety in the UK by shutting out those fleeing war, persecution, and human rights abuses. It will not fulfil its stated purpose of creating a 'firm and fair' asylum system. Most worryingly, it is unlikely to stop horrific human tragedies of the like we've just witnessed in the Channel.
Please read the urgent briefing from JCWI (https://www.jcwi.org.uk/briefing-tragedy-in-the-channel), and take this opportunity to stand up for refugee protection. Nobody would risk their life to make a dangerous journey unless they had no other option. It is not possible to make an asylum claim from outside the UK; therefore, those seeking protection are in too many cases forced to risk their lives just to access their right to claim asylum. Many of those who arrive by boat are subsequently recognised as refugees by the Home Office.
The UK has a proud history of offering safety to those in need, most recently evidenced by the huge success of the Syrian resettlement scheme, and the Government has claimed that this Bill will see the UK take its place as a global leader in refugee protection by continuing this tradition and creating more safe and legal routes. Yet, despite the Government's promises to increase 'safe and legal' routes for people urgently requiring safety around the world, the Bill contains no such commitments. The Government has boasted that this Bill will create a 'Global Britain', able to act as a force for good; instead, this legislation reneges on our international responsibilities to those fleeing war and persecution.
Under the provisions of the Bill, many of those fleeing persecution arriving in the UK will be criminalised, have their asylum claims deemed 'inadmissible', and be at risk of removal from the UK. Yet, recent research has shown that the majority of people taking irregular routes to reach the UK are in genuine need of protection, including people fleeing from Afghanistan. All that this rule change will do is worsen the appallingly long wait times many of those seeking asylum already face.
The Bill will see people seeking asylum forced into newly created reception centres, likely to be little more than detention by default. Even if granted asylum in the UK, they will only ever get precarious protection and will have fewer rights than other refugees, a move that the UN has asserted contravenes international law. These changes will create a two-tier asylum system which will cost the Home Office vast amounts of time and taxpayers' money.
The Bill also contains draconian, and likely unworkable, plans to introduce offshoring. Australia's 'Pacific Solution', the offshoring model on which this provision is based, has been an abject failure. Imposing this sort of model on people in the asylum system will cause huge suffering for people who are already in distress.
The public does not support this Bill. Over 179,000 people signed petitions opposing the Bill, and recent polling carried out by Refugee Action showed that three in five voters were against plans to punish refugees who arrive here through 'irregular routes' with differential treatment, as the measures in the Bill will do if passed.
I hope you will be able to attend the debate at Report Stage to scrutinise the Government on these important issues, to support amendments which challenge them (amendments 8 and 11 in particular), and ensure the fundamental rights of refugees and those seeking asylum are protected. It is only through such changes that we will be able to keep people safe and finally stop Channel boat crossings. Here's the briefing link again: https://www.jcwi.org.uk/briefing-tragedy-in-the-channel
Yours sincerely,
$ME
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Date: 2021-11-27 10:10 am (UTC)