“History shows us that refugees are the victims of human rights abuse, war & environmental disasters. We surely all have a duty to support the victims, rather than blaming & punishing them for events not of their making.”
Jeremy Corbyn MP.
This weekend Jeremy Corbyn wrote to the Home Secretary to express grave concerns about the inhumane approach towards desperate refugees adopted by the Government. The text of the letter can be found below and was originally published here on Jeremy’s Facebook Page:
Dear Rt Hon Priti Patel,
I write because of my concerns about the inhumane approach towards desperate refugees adopted by your government.
Images of adults and children in small and unsafe boats crossing the channel, alongside the more horrific images of those left uncared for as a result of unsuccessful crossings, and indeed tragedies such as that in the Moria refugee centre, say far more than words.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister said in parliament: “We will make sure that nobody in this country, let alone asylum seekers, is ill-treated”. Yet there remains a significant discrepancy between these words and the measures being taken by the government.
It recently came to light that hundreds of asylum seekers are being housed in Tenby army barracks; this is deeply concerning, and simply wrong. It has also been revealed this week that the Government has been exploring using offshore prison ships to detain and transport those seeking aslyum, and also looking at the possibility of sending asylum seekers to Moldova, Morocco and Papua New Guinea, alongside suggestions that detention centres could be constructed on the south Atlantic islands of Ascension and St Helena.
Political point scoring by talking of island detention centres is nothing more than an extension of the hostile environment created by your predecessor. The Windrush Generation will attest to this.
Many British people started out as refugees and have made enormous contributions to our communities and to society. Getting through the Corona crisis has only been possible by superhuman efforts, including by refugee workers and their families.
Asylum seekers are human beings who have a right to be treated with dignity and respect. It is unforgivable that in modern day Britain there is such a shortfall in practical and urgent solutions to this ongoing crisis.
The government’s current approach is neither humane nor fair, and yet humanity and fairness are what is required. There are huge concerns about the location of vulnerable refugees in Greece and other parts of Europe. We should be playing our part in supporting them.
History shows us that refugees are the victims of human rights abuse, war and environmental disasters. We surely all have a duty to support the victims, rather than blaming and punishing them for events not of their making.
I would welcome receiving some positive news from you in relation to the above.
Yours sincerely,
The Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP
