Six weeks after over 800 organisations and individuals supporting people seeking asylum in our communities wrote to the Prime Minister with a blueprint for a compassionate refugee protection system, Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reply and his government has announced a new raft of harmful anti-refugee policies.
Today, Asylum Matters has written again to the Prime Minister to reiterate urgent calls for the government to fix our broken asylum system and to protect, rather than punish, people seeking safety.
Dear Prime Minister,
On 8th July, 300 organisations and 500 individuals on the frontline of providing support to people seeking asylum within our communities, wrote to you to congratulate you on your election victory and urge you to fix our broken asylum system and to protect, rather than punish, people seeking safety. We are still awaiting a reply.
We recommended some clear and tangible steps that you can take as a new Government to fix our broken asylum system, so that people forcibly displaced from their homes can rebuild their lives in safety and dignity, find care and belonging in our communities, and participate in our economy and society.
We welcome the positive steps your government has taken; namely in scrapping the harmful Rwanda scheme, resuming the processing of asylum applications, and not renewing the Bibby Stockholm contract beyond 2025.
However, we are deeply concerned about the Home Secretary’s announcements this week, which included plans for a large surge in enforcement and returns flights and an expansion of detention capacity by re-opening sites in Campsfield and Halsar that were previously mired by hunger strikes and suicide attempts.
We again urge your government not to engage in the hostile rhetoric towards people fleeing war and persecution that contributed to the violence on our streets in recent weeks, and to focus your efforts on delivering the practical steps we’ve outlined to fix our broken asylum system, not further harm people within it.
We are once again calling on you to urgently:
- Repeal the harmful Illegal Migration Act and Nationality and Borders Act in full, and enshrine in statute the right to seek asylum in the UK, in line with international law;
- Open safe routes for people seeking asylum to reach the UK so that people are not forced to risk their lives in the Channel, including providing visa routes, enabling families to reunite safely, and rebuilding refugee resettlement;
- Commit to ruling out offshore processing and ensure that people are able to have their cases processed in the UK in a fair and timely way;
- Resolve the legal aid crisis and ensure that everyone has access to good quality legal advice;
- House people seeking asylum in communities, not camps, and close down all institutional accommodation including barracks, barges, hotels and hostels which cause unnecessary lasting harm at an eye-watering cost to the taxpayer whilst community-based accommodation is available;
- Restore the right to work for people seeking asylum within six months of arrival so people can rebuild their lives in dignity and contribute £1.2 billion to the UK economy;
- Increase asylum support rates so people seeking safety are not locked into poverty and forced to choose between essentials like food and toiletries;
- End the use of immigration detention which restricts people’s freedom and liberty and causes immense harm to people’s physical and mental health;
- End the use of harmful rhetoric aimed at people seeking asylum, which contributes to a hostile environment which includes violence by far-right groups, and instead lead by example by promoting messages of compassion and welcome towards people seeking safety.
The violence on our streets in recent weeks, including attempts by far-right actors to burn down hotels with people seeking asylum trapped inside, means it is ever more imperative for your government to build a compassionate refugee protection system that upholds human rights and ensures people seeking safety are treated with respect and dignity.
We look forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely,
Asylum Matters
