Quakers welcome measures to restore asylum rights
The Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network issues a statement welcoming measures taken by the new Labour government
The Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) has said that it welcomes measures to restore asylum rights made by the new Labour government.
These include: ending the use of the ‘Bibby Stockholm’ barge and other ‘inappropriate’ housing; abolishing the policy to remove people seeking asylum to Rwanda; and lifting the ban on people claiming asylum who arrive in the UK (for example, on small boats).
QARN said, in a statement on 28 July: ‘We will celebrate when the UK re-engages with the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights.’
The statement, shared with the Friend, goes on to say that it will ‘wait to see how the Government intends to manage its promise to “fast-track” asylum claims and to tackle the backlog which has held so many people waiting to build a life over many years’.
‘When people who have come through the asylum process receive Discretionary Leave to Remain, they should not be expected to wait for ten years until they can be settled in the UK, nor should they be expected to pay exorbitant fees for their application to remain in the UK, or a health surcharge. The many thousands of individuals caught in this punitive system constitute an additional hidden backlog which urgently needs to be addressed,’ the statement goes on.
Calling for the whole asylum system to be overhauled, with ‘new systems created that centre the voices of those with personal experiences’, QARN said: ‘Compassion and justice should be the central principles of immigration policy. This means welcoming refugees and upholding international law.’
The full statement can be read on QARN’s website.
