Blog: Plight of desperate Afghans highlights UK ’s cruel refugee plans

We are witnessing deeply upsetting scenes from Afghanistan. People are fleeing safety through desperate means. Human rights activists, feminists, trade unionists, journalists – now waiting for a terrifying knock on their door. After the UK’s involvement in Afghanistan over the last two decades, we cannot fail them now. But this needs a concerted effort, because the Westminster government is already pushing plans through Parliament to make claiming asylum almost impossible. The Nationality and Borders Bill – introduced this summer – seeks to punish the most desperate refugees. Those who make ‘irregular’ journeys – or in other words, the only possible route to safety – will be treated as criminals. As we have seen all too starkly, when people are forced to flee their homes and countries in fear of their lives, they have hours not days, and certainly not years. As this crisis is immediate, the government’s announcement of restricting help to only 5,000 this year, and 20,000 over several years, will be too late for many who need urgent help now. In recent years, refugees fleeing conflict and persecution have been met with hostility and hate by governments. UNISON strongly opposes proposals to threaten criminal charges and four-year prison terms for the most desperate asylum seekers. Together with plans to give them more insecure and limited refuge in the UK, and to worsen the condition of detention centres, it is a dishonourable attempt to extend the Home Office...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog News international Source Type: news