Drop the Rwanda deal

Editorials

Drop the Rwanda deal

The grounding of the first deportation flight to Rwanda at the 11th hour was a win for justice. No one was deported: the asylum seekers are still in the UK, where they should be. Still, it was a very precarious win and we can’t let our guard down, as the government has announced that it will challenge the decision, determined to push through no matter what. Let’s be clear about what the Rwanda plan really is. A variety of public figures have called it “appalling.” 25 bishops and archbishops described…

The grounding of the first deportation flight to Rwanda at the 11th hour was a win for justice. No one was deported: the asylum seekers are still in the UK,…

10 years of hostility must end

In May 2012 the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, ushered in the “really Hostile Environment”, aimed at making life impossible for undocumented migrants. In the ensuing decade it has been spread like a cancer, contaminating everything and everyone it touches - including all of us who live here, together with our laws, politics, media, culture and values. Indeed, perhaps no other policy in living memory has left such a malign mark, a stain like an oil slick. By design or consequence, it is racist, xenophobic, immoral, illegal, unfair, punishing, divisive,…

In May 2012 the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, ushered in the “really Hostile Environment”, aimed at making life impossible for undocumented migrants. In the ensuing decade it has been…

Protection by invitation only

The government’s admission that it will send people seeking safety in the UK all the way to Rwanda, even those who might be persecuted there – such as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers – shows just how vicious is the thinking behind the plan. The government is willing to send a message of deterrence at any cost, whether human or financial. Almost all cultures around the world respond to people in distress by offering a helping hand. It’s what you would expect if you were fleeing conflict or dangerous prejudice, if you or your…

The government’s admission that it will send people seeking safety in the UK all the way to Rwanda, even those who might be persecuted there – such as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers –…

Reduce visa costs now

A “living hell”; “difficult to survive”; unable to lead a “normal” life; “I can’t feed my kids”; “terrible”; “hopeless”; “mental torture”, “ruined life”. Through a Migrant Voice report on the impact of visa fees and the visa application process, migrants are saying what the rest of the country seems not to know: that visa fees are exorbitant, unfair, financially punitive and a threat to health and well-being. The report shows that migrants are charged more than seven times the administrative cost of a visa and that two-thirds of migrants who…

A “living hell”; “difficult to survive”; unable to lead a “normal” life; “I can’t feed my kids”; “terrible”; “hopeless”; “mental torture”, “ruined life”. Through a Migrant Voice report on the…

From protection to deterrence

The UK Government’s plan to turn people into human cargo and send them against their will to Rwanda is chilling. It would effectively end the UK’s participation in the United Nations Refugee Convention, moving Britain away from protecting refugees to deterring them. The Government is seeking, by any means and at almost any cost, to avoid its international responsibilities while demanding other countries take theirs. Much of the Government’s rhetoric is about legal routes for those seeking asylum, but safe legal routes are not available to all who need them.…

The UK Government’s plan to turn people into human cargo and send them against their will to Rwanda is chilling. It would effectively end the UK’s participation in the United…

War of words

WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH, 2022 Words heal, explain, inform, enlighten. They can also hurt, muddle, mislead, misinform. And as reactions to the 2 million - and still rising - Ukrainian refugees show, they can reveal. Many responses have been heartwarming and helpful: scores of Germans holding placards offering rooms in their homes to people they’ve never met; Poland taking in 1.2 million refugees by 8 March backed up by small cash payments for each newcomer from a specially created £1.3 billion fund. Others have been slow, confused, and ill-considered. Sadly, the…

WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH, 2022 Words heal, explain, inform, enlighten. They can also hurt, muddle, mislead, misinform. And as reactions to the 2 million - and still rising - Ukrainian refugees…

Eight years of injustice: It's time for the Home Office to face up and pay up

THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 2022 A second BBC Newsnight programme, broadcast on 23 February, again highlighted the huge miscarriage of justice affecting tens of thousands of international students due to the Home Office's insistence on using flawed evidence to take action against them. Eight years ago, tens of thousands of students were wrongly accused of cheating on an English-language test and were forced to return their countries because, overnight, they were barred from their courses and from working in Britain, renting accommodation or using the NHS. Some were detained. Some were deported. Those who stayed…

THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 2022 A second BBC Newsnight programme, broadcast on 23 February, again highlighted the huge miscarriage of justice affecting tens of thousands of international students due to the Home Office's…

The Home Office must right its wrongs after Newsnight revelations

FRIDAY 11 FEBRUARY, 2022 The BBC Newsnight investigation broadcast on 9 February into the expulsion of tens of thousands of overseas students is a decisive moment in the #MyFutureBack campaign to clear the students’ names. The investigation cast serious doubts on key parts of the evidence used by the government to justify its mass expulsions in the wake of a 2014 BBC Panorama programme report of allegations of cheating in two privately run test centres for English-language skills. That alone is sufficient to collapse the Home Office’s refusal to confront…

FRIDAY 11 FEBRUARY, 2022 The BBC Newsnight investigation broadcast on 9 February into the expulsion of tens of thousands of overseas students is a decisive moment in the #MyFutureBack campaign…

Eight years of injustice: we fight on

"A BBC investigation has raised fresh doubts about the evidence used to throw thousands of people out of the UK for allegedly cheating in an English language test. Whistleblower testimony and official documents obtained by Newsnight reveal the Home Office has continued to try to remove people based on the claims of the international testing organisation ETS - despite knowing of serious concerns about its conduct and flaws in its data.” – BBC website, 9 February 2022 We reacted with shock, disbelief and indignation when a group of overseas students…

"A BBC investigation has raised fresh doubts about the evidence used to throw thousands of people out of the UK for allegedly cheating in an English language test. Whistleblower testimony…

Clause 9 - devaluing the British passport

We are deeply concerned about Clause 9 of the Nationality and Borders Bill (the Bill) which would turn millions of us in this country into second-class citizens. Clause 9 of the Bill currently going through parliament would enable the Secretary of State to deprive a person of their British citizenship without notice. This clause generates fear. It makes many British people feel unsafe. It betrays millions of us. It devalues the British passport. It is racist, because those most affected, and most likely to be affected in the future, by…

We are deeply concerned about Clause 9 of the Nationality and Borders Bill (the Bill) which would turn millions of us in this country into second-class citizens. Clause 9 of…

Drop the Rwanda deal

Editorials