Refugees

Mapping the world’s refugee population.

— According to a report by the UNHCR, the number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 89 million by the end of 2021. This number is up 8% from the year before and in 2022 to date already surpassed 100 million.

Human Rights

Commonwealth leaders gather in Rwanda as UK refugee plan focuses attention on human rights.

— The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Rwanda will be complicated by the UK’s plan to send refugees to Rwanda. A policy that, like almost everything else Boris Johnson touches, is likely to reflect badly on everyone involved.

COMMENT

All government wants is for asylum seekers to be out of sight out of mind.

— Rather than doing anything practical to tackle gangs, the government blames human rights lawyers – the very people who are making sure asylum seekers are correctly and lawfully processed.

Immigration

How the UK’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is 21st-century imperialism writ large.

— How will asylum seekers relocated from the UK be accommodated in Rwanda, beyond temporary plans to convert a former hostel into a detention centre, and what will happen to those who are not granted asylum? Whatever. For the UK, the UK-Rwanda deal represents yet another business interest in Africa.

COMMENT

Government has more interest in allowing vulnerable children to be targeted by traffickers than tackling traffickers.

— How many children refugees will join those already being incorrectly classed as adults by the Home Office’s social workers? How many risk being sent to Rwanda or stuck in camps?

Immigration

UN refugee agency ‘firmly’ opposes UK-Rwanda offshore migration processing deal.

— The deal made by the UK to send migrants for processing and relocation to Rwanda is at odds with States’ responsibility to take care of those in need of protection, the UN refugee agency says.

COMMENT

The Home Office’s bureaucracy has been destroying people’s lives for decades. Increasing it isn’t the way forward.

— Implementing a sponsored visa route, rather than waiving visas, risks putting refugees in greater danger of exploitation, without long-term security. It is a cop-out by the government to avoid providing genuine support.

COMMENT

Refugees don’t need visas.

— The UK Government must scrap visa requirements for refugees and halt carrier liability fines, to ensure those who do seek asylum in the UK can reach here safely.

War in Ukraine

Ukraine: The UK is failing to meet its obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

— Instead of providing safe and legal routes to protection to people in grave danger, Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced a minor loosening of visa rules.

COMMENT

Refugee protection means more than just saying words of support.

— When you see big numbers in relation to refugee situations, ensure you put them into context.

COMMENT

How the Home Office spends money hurting people.

— Instead of wasting more money on failed immigration policies, on hurting and othering people, the UK Government could use it to help people struggling in this country.

Refugees

The meaning of Christmas, according to Natalie.

— Being kind to people, helping those in need? No, a carefully-worded tweet by Tory MP Natalie Elphicke on Christmas day that never accidentally says that refugees are not welcome in the UK, and yet implies it quite violently.

Poland-Belarus Border Crisis

Belarus: Border crisis with Poland loses sight of the people trapped in the middle.

— It’s vital not to lose sight of who the people trapped on the Belarus/Poland border are and how they came to be there.