On Saturday 17 May human rights campaigners gathered at the gates of Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre for women to draw attention to the ongoing cruel practice of detention, and called upon the prime minister, home secretary and local MPs to remember their own humanity, and recognise that the UK is an ‘Island of Neighbours’, rather than exacerbating the hostility towards migrants through ill-advised language which has been likened to Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech..
No To Hassockfield’s partners Right To Remain have this week said;
“The Prime Minister’s speech and his foreword to the white paper (Restoring control over the immigration system) draw a bleak picture of migration – that it risks the UK turning into an ‘island of strangers’ and that it has caused ‘incalculable damage’ to the UK. The white paper’s specific content of course raises many concerns – namely to make migrants’ lives hard and the hostile environment even more hostile. Scapegoating migrants is not to address the deep inequality the UK is experiencing: it is the government’s political decisions that are worsening our housing crisis or overstretching the public sector. This hostility was, however, expected. Since they came to power in July last year, the Labour Party has been busy boasting about increasing immigration raids, detention and deportations; threats that have terrified our communities.”
Fatou Tamba
Last month campaigners mobilised from across the country to stop the forced deportation of Fatou Tamba, a woman who has lived in the UK for over 18 years, contributing to her local community, actively volunteering with local organisations in her home city of Liverpool. Just 6 weeks ago she was unexpectedly taken when signing on at her local reporting centre and imprisoned in Derwentside IRC. She had to leave The Gambia after she and her brother received death threats due to their political views and activism. Deporting her back to The Gambia will put her at risk of false imprisonment or death. Actions at Derwentside stopped her original removal, but she was then deliberately moved overnight to Yarlswood Immigration Removal Centre, closer to Heathrow. The Home Office then attempted further removal whereby Fatou was held four hours expecting to be forcibly removed on a plane. After desperate action by her brother and legal team, pressure from her MP and many others, her removal directions were cancelled. Like many others, when Fatou had access to a good legal team she can make a legitimate case to stay in the UK. But the toll of being imprisoned has led to a huge deterioration in her mental and physical health.
Neighbours, not strangers
Dr. Helen Groom, retired Gateshead GP and Chair of the No To Hassockfield Campaign, said:
“During the 30 years that I spent as an NHS GP in Gateshead, I worked with and looked after many migrants who were fellow doctors, nurses, carers, scientists, taxi drivers, shop owners and entrepreneurs. Those migrants had been welcomed to the UK and have made significant contributions to our society and helped to make the UK an ‘Island of Neighbours’. Political decisions over the last 20 years have led to the UK becoming a more unequal society. A current exhibition at The Royal College of GPs demonstrates that, in my lifetime, inequalities have widened, rather than narrowing between wealthy and deprived areas. Meanwhile, the wealthy, those on the right and even our current government seek to blame migrants (and now the sick with their attacks on benefits.) It is, we believe, political actions that are at fault. Increasing inequality leads to anger and hatred, increasing unrest and violence. When citizens and communities become neighbours, not strangers, and take care of the most vulnerable, then inequalities and unrest lessen.
We call on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum Angela Eagle and Liz Twist MP for Derwentside IRC, to remember their humanity, to stop fanning the fires of hate and to rebuild, not destroy, our island of neighbours.”
Anti – migrant language
Julie Ward, former North West Labour MEP said:
“I am deeply troubled by the dangerous anti-migrant rhetoric coming out of government, from the mouths of people who should know better. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, prides himself on having been a human rights lawyer and yet he allows the racism of the far-right to dictate his shameful narrative, trashing his own reputation in the process. Before she was Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, visited the desperate people shivering in the mud of the informal refugee encampment at Calais where men, women and children wait before trying to reach the safety of our shores. Why can she not remember that it’s conflict, violence, poverty and unsustainable lives that drives people to such desperate measures?
Instead of challenging Farage and co head on, our leaders are running scared of Reform, scapegoating migrants rather than recognising that the solution to our domestic problems lie not in ‘stopping the small boats’ or increasing deportations but in creating safe and legal routes for people seeking sanctuary whilst also investing in our public services. Instead of targeting migrants and refugees we should value all those who come from somewhere else to live and work alongside us – they bring important skills that we need in order to prosper.
We should follow the example of countries such as Spain where a compassionate socialist government opened its ports to overloaded boats of desperate refugees, and recently introduced new legislation to make life easier for migrants and people seeking asylum, cutting bureaucracy and reducing the length of time foreign nationals have to wait before acquiring citizenship. People seeking asylum in Spain are allowed to work whilst waiting for the outcome of their cases which enables them to contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of society. Meanwhile the state provides a financial safety net for those without the resources to cover the needs of their families.
These initiatives are based on robust research that recognises gaps in Spain’s labour market, and also reaffirms the high social value placed on family and community life. The Spanish government has done the maths – it makes economic sense to welcome migrants and refugees and the citizens are by and large supportive.”
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