Thumbs down for Prime Minister May's refugee stand
19th September 2016,
Civil society organisations condemn UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech on the global refugee crisis as "disastrous" and "reactionary".
Amnesty
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2016
UN REFUGEE SUMMIT: “RACE TO THE BOTTOM” FORCING REFUGEES INTO SMUGGLERS’ HANDS
“This disastrous approach has triggered a race to the bottom as country after country has raised its walls and lowered its standards for those seeking asylum” – Kate Allen
In response to Theresa May’s speech at the UN summit on refugees in New York today Amnesty International said that the Prime Minister’s refusal to share responsibility for the global refugee crisis is having disastrous consequences and calls upon the government to urgently change tack.
Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK who is currently in New York for the UN Summit, said:
“Today's refugee crisis is global and has been more than a decade in the making. Yet, the Prime Minister's response is just more of the same – keeping people who are fleeing persecution stuck in intolerable and unsafe conditions in poor and unstable countries neighbouring conflict.
“This disastrous approach has triggered a race to the bottom as country after country has raised its walls and lowered its standards for those seeking asylum. This is simply forcing ever more refugees to turn to people smugglers and make dangerous journeys in the hope of finding somewhere safe for themselves and their family to rebuild their lives.”
Amnesty welcomes the government’s commitment to provide increased humanitarian funding in response to the global refugee crisis but is calling for greater responsibility for hosting and assisting refugees.
Kate Allen added: “The UK is one of the richest countries in the world, yet it hosts less than one per cent of the world’s refugee population. Our government is failing to play a full part in providing sanctuary for those fleeing conflict and persecution and this urgently needs to change.
“Just last week we saw the impact of the UK Government’s policy when a young boy from Afghanistan died trying to make it to the UK because he was so desperate to join his family here. How many more needless deaths must we witness before these policies are changed?”
Theresa May outlined three specific principles that should guide the UK’s approach, which include that refugees should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and that there needs to be a better distinction between refugees and economic migrants.
Kate Allen added:
“Theresa May is creating a false dichotomy between people in refugee camps far away and people seeking asylum in Europe and the UK. It has long been clear that the great majority of people crossing the Mediterranean are fleeing war and brutality. Rather than falsely dismissing the need for asylum before they've even been able to make their claims, we should be establishing safe reception for them and sharing responsibility for assessing their claims and meeting their needs."
“International law makes it plain that everyone is entitled to seek asylum in other countries. Nothing requires that to be done in any particular country. Still less does it require that claims be made in countries neighbouring conflict, which already host by far the greater majority of the world’s refugees. Pursuing this nonsense is as unsustainable as it is cruelly unfair.”
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Theresa May at the UN summit for refugees and migrants – Global Justice Now response |
| Responding to news of what prime minister Theresa May was planning to say at the UN conference for refugees and migrants, Alex Scrivener, the policy officer for Global Justice Nowsaid: “Theresa May is simply pandering to populism by building more walls and instituting ever stricter controls on the movement of people, and it will have devastating consequences. As history has shown time and time again, it just doesn’t work and leads to needless loss of life. Instead of trying to dismiss vital rescue missions in the Mediterranean as a “pull factor” for migrants, the UK government should step up efforts to provide safer ways for these people to come to Europe. “We cannot try and divide desperate people into refugees and economic migrants as if fleeing from extreme poverty was somehow illegitimate. The reality is that there is no such thing as a migrant crisis. We are seeing a crisis of war, oppression, extreme poverty and inequality. Unless these root causes are dealt with, there will be no end to this crisis.” |
Calais Action
Theresa May has ignored the calls of 200 faith groups, 50 aid organisations and the thousands of people that marched this weekend in solidarity with refugees, for a humane and collaborative approach to the crisis.
By advancing a divisive and reactionary approach to the definition of a refugee, condemning them to be stranded in those countries least economically able to deal with them and building walls, we are shoring up generations to come of dispossessed, disenfranchised and disillusioned people, whilst compounding the difficulties they have already suffered.
We urge the UK to acknowledge its responsibilities for the crisis, address the root causes of inequality, and house its fair share of refugees - starting with those 1,022 unaccompanied child refugees in Calais.
Monday 19th September 2016
UK PROPOSAL FOR REFUGEES PUTS EVEN HEAVIER BURDEN ON POOR COUNTRIES
Christian Aid has criticised the UK Prime Minister Theresa May for her government’s approach to control the movement of refugees globally, which - the charity says - puts the interests of rich countries first, while ignoring the needs of millions of people displaced.
Speaking at today’s UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, Theresa May warned the UN general assembly of the ‘dangers of uncontrolled mass migration’ and called for an international agreement to force refugees to stay in the first ‘safe country’ they arrive in.
Tom Viita, Senior Political Advisor at Christian Aid, commented: “Eighty six per cent of the world’s refugees are hosted in poor countries so they should be in the driving seat in deciding how to handle the world’s worst refugee crisis in seventy years. It is disappointing to hear Theresa May and other European leaders proposing to shift an even greater burden onto poor countries. This is not in the interests of those countries, or refugees themselves.
“May’s proposal for refugees to be hosted in the first ‘safe country’ they arrive in would trap even more people into degrading and inhumane living conditions in refugee camps. Furthermore, it reduces the possibilities for separated families to reunite.
“The UK is among the most respected international donors to help refugees, and could use its position of leadership to drive a genuinely compassionate and fair response. Yet it should not be misusing aid to prop up a discredited international system that burdens poor countries far too much. The UK should work with other countries to design a fairer system that creates long-lasting solutions for millions of people in need.”
Christian Aid welcomed Theresa May’s call for all countries to bear their share of responsibility for helping refugees. To that end, the charity is urging rich nations to increase refugee resettlement and drastically reform the way refugee aid to poor countries who shoulder the responsibility is financed.
The Summit is expected to kick-start a two-year process for a new “Global Compact” for people on the move, to be finalised by September 2018. Tomorrow President Obama will host a pledging conference to ensure quicker action is taken to meet people’s needs now.
Christian Aid is urging the UK government to attend the summit and pledge to host higher numbers of refugees by:
· Resettling higher numbers of refugees, broadening the nationalities it resettles, and significantly accelerating the resettlement of the 20,000 Syrians the UK government has already agreed to accept in the UK;
· Introducing a system of humanitarian visas to the UK, including via third countries;
· Strengthening and implementing adequate measures for family reunification;
· Acting on its responsibilities to relocate refugees already in the EU.
Christian Aid is currently working in Greece and Serbia through the ACT Alliance. Our partners are providing legal protection services to unaccompanied children, and families, on the Greek mainland, and housing support to some of the most vulnerable refugees awaiting relocation to other countries in Europe.Christian Aid and our partners continue to provide support to refugees and displaced people in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, South Sudan, and many other countries throughout the world.
