Hastings turns out for refugees

It was national news recently when it was reported that people on Hastings beach shouted ‘horrible’ abuse as they tried to block the launch of the local lifeboat on the way to assist a small boat in distress carrying refugees. One consequence of this was that donations to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) shot up. Another was that the Council statement on the matter had no Councillors’ names on it. On Saturday 11 December there was a demonstration on the Stade on behalf of refugees. Bernard McGinley was there with many others, and took the photos.

In late November, 27 people drowned in the English Channel when their tiny boat sank. The Stade rally was organised jointly by various organisations: Hastings Stand Up To Racism, Hastings Supports Refugees, Hastings Community of Sanctuary, the Refugee Buddy Project of Hastings, Rother and Wealden, and Together With Refugees, in an attempt to explain the issues (including the defects of government policy) and why people risked their lives trying to cross the Channel. 

The co-chair of Hastings Community of Sanctuary, Polly Gifford, began with a minute’s silence for the recently drowned, before introducing the other speakers. Jane Grimshaw of Hastings Supports Refugees spoke of the different manifestations of local support, compassion and solidarity.

Firsthand witness

An Afghani, Gulwali Passarlay spoke passionately. He was forced to flee Afghanistan aged 13, in 2007. Now a graduate of Manchester University, published author (The Lightless Sky) and TEDx speaker, he explained the reasons for opposing the criminalisation of the RNLI for giving assistance, as government draft legislation seeks to do.

He also spoke movingly of injustices and the impact of dehumanisation, and the deterioration of the asylum system.

Journalist, broadcaster and campaigner Nadene Ghouri gave a harrowing account of Afghanistan in and since August, and how friends and associates were being ‘disappeared’. She explained how refugees needed help and an international coalition had come into being, to do work that official organisations had failed to. Helena Kennedy QC was among the supporters. The recent statement of ex-diplomat Raphael Marshall to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee was commended.

The criminalising of refugees was objected to, as seeking asylum is not an offence. 

She emphasised that the the ‘New’ Taliban now governing Afhanistan were as vicious and murderous as the old one. 

A refugee from Pinochet

A Chilean refugee of the 1970s, Rossana Leal, spoke of the forms of damage involved in fleeing a homeland. As a founder of the Refugee Buddy Project she explained how volunteers provided badly-needed financial and emotional support — and generosity, solidarity and respect. ‘We socialise, dance and eat’, she said, and went on to criticise government hostility to refugees, and various forms of intimidation and disadvantage. 

The Nationality and Borders Bill, currently proposed for legislation, was said to be against the Human Rights Act and related frameworks. Having survived fascism in Chile, she advocated sustained resistance and insisted that ‘Refugees are welcome here’. 

Local Councillors Andy Batsford and Maya Evans also spoke, praising the courage and endurance of the refugees, the provision for under-18s, and the importance of compassion. The involvement of local people and HBC officers was also cited, and the impact of grassroots action. Several other councillors were in the crowd.

Future legislation an aspect

In conclusion, Simon Hester of Stand Up to Racism spoke powerfully on the political context of events, and of the Channel disaster as avoidable. He also related the legal context to the threats to Roma people, to punitive proposals for statue defacing, to discrimination, and the example of Black Lives Matter in shifting opinion.

A major rally against the Nationality and Borders Bill is planned for London on Saturday 19 March 2022. Notoriously its Clause 9 seeks to strip certain people of their UK citizenship without warning, a clear form of second-class citizenship, as many (including former Brexit Secretary, David Davis MP) have pointed out.  

It was an well-organised and orderly demonstration, that ended as rain came on.  The importance of diverse support (goods, money, shelter, time, campaigning, protesting) was one lesson, and how all support was appreciated.

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