The UK government is planning to send asylum seekers thousands of miles away, to Rwanda reportedly by boat after already making long and dangerous journeys to get to the UK. These plans are inhumane. Once again we see vulnerable people being treated as a problem to be handed off to someone else rather than human beings who deserve to be treated with respect.
What we must remember, as we learn about the plans for the UK to send asylum seekers thousands of miles away to Rwanda reportedly by boat after already making long and dangerous journeys to get to the UK, is the human impact this decision will have. Once again we see vulnerable people treated as a problem to be handed off to someone else, rather than human beings who should be treated with respect.
Where you are born is down to luck. And implementing these plans will not deter people who are fleeing for their lives. It will just punish and harm them further for seeking safety – something they have the legal right to do. Seeking asylum is not illegal.
The UNHCR reports there are 35 million refugees around the world. Less than 0.2% of them are in the UK. We do not have a refugee crisis in the UK.
The fact that people are forced to risk their lives to seek safety is the real crisis here. We have said it before and will say it again; there are nowhere near enough viable safe routes of passage. The Nationality and Borders bill only increases the risk of smuggling and danger to human life.
After facing unthinkable circumstances and being forced to flee your home, being ‘offshored’ again and effectively imprisoned in another country whilst you wait for processing, is a moral failure. To say it would lead to retraumatization is a bleak understatement.
At the heart of this crisis are humans and human beings are not commodities, regardless of where they come from.
It’s easy to feel helpless in times like these, but here’s what you can do help stop asylum seekers being ‘offshored’ to Rwanda from the UK:
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