Dear Prime Minister,
We write to express our shared outrage at the passage of the misleadingly named ‘Safety of Rwanda Act’. This is a shameful and performatively cruel law that will risk people’s lives and betray who we are as a society.
We all want to be safe – and we want that safety for each other, too. As a country, we are proud to uphold our responsibility to support refugees. Given the chance, communities across our country go the extra mile to welcome those in need. The wider public do not support the Rwanda plan.[1]
But this law would enable the Government to forcibly expel people seeking asylum – including children and survivors of trafficking and modern slavery – despite concerns they could be put at grave risk of harm and human rights abuses. The Rwanda plan will first force people who have fled violence and persecution into detention centres where they may face abuse and mistreatment, with no time limit. They will then be removed to a country to which they have no connection, despite our country’s Supreme Court ruling that it is unsafe for them. Through this law, the Government will put them at grave risk of mental and physical harm, and of being returned to danger in the countries they fled.
Despite the clear ruling from the Supreme Court, the Government is rewriting the facts so they can shirk our responsibilities to refugees. In doing so, the Government would break international law and further shatter the UK’s commitment to justice and the rule of law. While this is a targeted attack on refugees and migrants, an attack on one group’s rights is an attack on all of us.
Outsourcing our asylum system to other countries is never acceptable. It abandons our duty to share in the global responsibility towards those forced to seek safety. Instead of continuing down this dangerous path, the Government must guarantee that asylum claims will be heard fairly on our shores, and open safe routes so that people are not forced to take dangerous journeys.
As organisations working towards a better future for all, we believe in kindness and compassion. The Government must listen to the people, abandon this deplorable deal with Rwanda and similar plans with other countries, and protect those who need sanctuary.
Reference:
[1] https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/03/18/less-than-a-quarter-of-the-public-back-rwanda-bill-in-current-form-poll-finds/
Signed:
Women for Refugee Women
ACAP (Ashton Churches Asylum Project)
Action for Refugees in Lewisham
African Rainbow Family
After Exploitation
Amnesty Mid Gloucestershire Group
Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)
Apna Haq
Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID)
Asylum Link Merseyside
Asylum Matters
Asylum Seeker Housing Project
Asylum Support Appeals Project
Asylum Welcome
Bail for Immigration Detainees
Baptists Together
Barnsley Borough City of Sanctuary
BEACON
Best for Britain
Big Leaf Foundation
BIRCH Network
Birmingham City of Sanctuary
Boaz Trust
Bournville Amnesty
Bradford City of Sanctuary
Bradford Immigration & Asylum Support & Advice Network (BIASAN)
Bradford Rape Crisis
Bristol Defend the Asylum Seekers Campaign
Bristol Law Centre
Bristol Refugee Rights
Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees
Bromsgrove Justice and Peace Group
Calais Light
Calderdale Valley of Sanctuary
Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group
Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers)
Care4Calais
Central England Law Centre
Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law
Choose Love (CIO)
Christian Concern for One World
Church of Scotland
Churches Together in Sandbach
Citizens of the World Choir
City of Sanctuary Sheffield
City of Sanctuary UK
Columbans Missionaries in Britain
Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
Community Policy Forum
Communityworks
Connected Routes CIC
Conversations From Calais
Coventry Against Racism
Coventry Refugee & Migrant Centre
Da’aro Youth Project
Darlington Assistance for Refugees
Detention Action
Disability Rights UK
Diverse Cymru
Doncaster Conversation Club
Durham City of Sanctuary
EachOther
Ecojustice Ireland
End Violence Against Women Coalition
Entraide UK
Equally Ours
Fair Vote UK
Fair Way Scotland
Faith Network for Manchester
Fatima House
Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX)
FODI
forRefugees
Freedom from Torture
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
Global Link
Good Chance Theatre
Govan Community Project
Gower College Swansea
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
Hackney Stand Up to Racism
Haringey Migrant Support Centre
Haringey Welcome
Hastings Community of Sanctuary
Hastings Supports Refugees
HBTSR (Hay Brecon amd Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees)
Heanor Baptist Church
Helen Bamber Foundation
Herts for Refugees
Hexham Amnesty
HIAS+JCORE
Hope and Aid Direct
Hope Projects
House of Rainbow CIC
Human Rights Consortium Scotland
Human Rights Lawyer
Human Rights Watch
Humanists UK
Humans for Rights Network
Ice and Fire Theatre Company
IMIX
Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)
Inclusion North CIC
INQUEST
Interfaith Scotland
Iraqi Association
Jesuit Refugee Service UK
Just Fair
Just Futures Research Centre, University of Huddersfield
JustRight Scotland
KRAN
Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS)
Law Centres Network
Leeds Anti Raids Action
Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network
Leeds Refugee Forum
Legal Aid Practitioners Group
Leicester City of Sanctuary
Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network (LRMN)
Liberty
Lifeline Options CIC
Louth Churches for Refugees
Mafwa Theatre CIC
Manchester City of Sanctuary
Manchester Migrant Solidarity
MAP Middlesbrough
Mary Thompson Fund
Medact
Medical Justice
Mermaids
Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders
METRO Charity
Metropolitan Community Church of North London (MCCNL)
Micro Rainbow
Migrant Champions Network
Migrant Voice
Migrants’ Rights Network
Migration Policy and Practice
Music Action International
NACCOM
New Citizens’ Gateway
New Europeans UK
NIARA
No To Hassockfield
North Wales Regional Equality Network
Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF)
Oasis Church
Oldham Unity Destitution Project
One Community Link
One Life To Live
One Roof Leicester
Open Rights Group
Our Second Home
Out In The City
Oxfam GB
PAFRAS
Peace of Mind CIO
Pendle New Neighbours
People & Planet
PERN (Penrith and Eden Refugee Network)
Plan International UK
POMOC
Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS)
Praxis
Public Interest Litigation Support Project
Public Law Project
Quakers in Britain
Race Equality Network
Rainbow Home
Rainbow Migration
RAIS (Refugee Advocacy, Information, and Support)
Reach Group, Huddersfield
Reclaim the Agenda
Refugee Action
Refugee and Migrant Centre (West Midlands)
Refugee Council
Refugee Futures
Refugee Legal Support (RLS)
Refugee Support Group
Refugee Welcome Homes CIC
Refugee Women Connect
Refugee Youth Service
Refugees & Mentors CIC
Refugees at Home
Rene Cassin, the Jewish Voice for Human Rights
Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together
Right to Remain
Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton
Room to Heal
Safe Passage International
Scotswood Garden
Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees
Scottish Refugee Council
Settle Area Refugee Support group
Six Ways Baptist Church
Six Ways Erdington Baptist Church
Skipton Refugee Support Group
Social Equity Centre
South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG)
South Yorkshire Refugee Law & Justice
Southall Black Sisters
Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group
Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC)
Southeast and east Asian Women’s Association
St Paul’s Church, Birmingham
St Vincent de Paul RC Church (Liverpool) Justice & Peace Group
St Vincent Newcastle (St Vincent de Paul Society England & Wales)
Stand and Be Counted Theatre
Stand For All
Stories of Hope and Home
Street Talk
Stroud District Together With Refugees
Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
Swansea Asylum Seeker Support (SASS)
Swansea Women’s Asylum and Refugee Support Group
Tees Valley of Sanctuary
The Ark Synagogue
The Comfrey Project
The Gomes Brothers
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
The Launchpad Collective
The Methodist Church
The Pickwell Foundation
The Snowdrop Project
The United Reformed Church
The VOICES Network
The William Gomes Podcast
These Walls Must Fall
Together with Migrant Children
UK Must Act
Unicorn Theatre
Unite NW522
United Reformed Church, Wythenshawe
Vauxhall Law Centre
Voices in Exile
Voices Without Borders
Waging Peace
Walking With
We Are Survivors
We Belong
Welcome Group Halesowen
Welsh Centre for International Affairs
Welsh Refugee Council
West London Welcome
Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary
Women for Refugee Women
Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom
Women’s Support Project (Rights & Choices)
Young Roots