Migration Bill is ‘shockingly cruel’, say Friends
‘In stripping the most basic rights from people seeking safety and a better life, the Bill dismantles human rights protections for all of us.’
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) and the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) have signed a joint solidarity statement with 174 other organisations on the Illegal Migration Bill.
The statement calls on the government to withdraw the bill immediately on the basis that it is effectively a ban on asylum, extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the UK. The campaign group Liberty sent the statement to all members of the House of Lords, ahead of a key debate on the bill last week on 10 May. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, denounced the bill, calling it ‘morally unacceptable and politically impractical’.
The statement says ‘this shockingly cruel and inhumane Bill turns our country’s back on people fleeing war and persecution, blocking them from protection, support, or justice at a time they need it most’.
‘In stripping the most basic rights from people seeking safety and a better life, the Bill dismantles human rights protections for all of us.’
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, later said that Justin Welby’s criticism of the bill was ‘wrong on both counts’.
Comments
Please login to add a comment
