Hastings residents say #StopRwanda deportations

Protests took place around the UK on Monday (5 September) to coincide with a legal challenge to the UK Government’s plan to forcibly deport innocent refugees to Rwanda. Gabriel Carlyle and Nick Terdre joined the Hastings demonstration.

Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson first announced the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda at a speech on 14 April, stating: “From today … anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1 may now be relocated to Rwanda”.

The £120m deal with the African state has been widely condemned as both cruel and illegal.

Describing it as “racist and disgraceful,” Amnesty International has noted that: “By trying to dump asylum seekers in Rwanda, the UK government is shirking its international responsibility under the Refugee Convention to protect people in need of asylum”.

Last month it was revealed that the government had pushed the deal through despite concerns raised by its own officials, including a statement by one Foreign Office official noting that in Rwanda: “There are state control, security, surveillance structures from the national level down to [households]. Political opposition is not tolerated and arbitrary detention, torture and even killings are accepted methods of enforcing control too.”

Initial failure

The government’s initial attempt to deport up to 130 refugees to Rwanda met with both legal and direct action and ended in failure on 14 June. Legal challenges have now culminated in a judicial review of the policy which got under way on Monday in the High Court in London, accompanied by protests outside the court and across the country.

At a rough count more than 200 people attended Monday’s protest outside the Goat Ledge community cafe on the sea front in St Leonards, an event jointly organised by Hastings Stand Up To Racism, Hastings Supports Refugees, the Refugee Buddy Project, Hastings Community of Sanctuary and Hastings Trade Union Council.

The meeting was addressed by Alex Kempton of the Refugee Buddy Project, Cllr John Cannan, representing the Labour group on Hastings Borough Council, Polly Gifford, co-chair of Hastings Community of Sanctuary, and Simon Hester of Hastings Stand Up To Racism.

Alex Kempton told the protest:

“I want you to take a minute and look around you and think who of us should be sent to Rwanda. Who should be told they do not have the right to safety, the right to an education for themselves and their children, the right to live in a place they are free to be who they are without fear of persecution?

“These are fundamental human rights, and it is these rights that this government is trying /to deny people seeking refuge simply because they were not born on what we consider to be British soil.

“Why should people be denied these rights because of a fluke of birth? People who have made treacherous journeys to seek safety should not be detained and deported, sent to another continent without ever having their claim heard. They have the right to seek asylum here under International Law and the UK government cannot simply turn its back on our responsibility to support people fleeing war, violence and persecution. People seeking safety deserve better. Our community deserves better.

“So I’m asking you all today to stand up and speak out. Prove to the media who peddle anti-refugee and anti-migrant narratives that they so not speak for us. Show the government that we will not let out communities be ripped apart by this racist agenda. Stand in solidarity with your community. Because it’s the only way we’re going to win.”

Relentless

“[The] government have been relentless in presenting this plan as the only way to stop the people smugglers, and it’s a narrative that must be challenged equally relentlessly, as it is simply not true,” Polly Gifford told the gathering. “Providing more safe and legal routes for people seeking asylum is the way to stop the people smugglers. And having a fair and timely system for processing asylum claims. To compound the traumatic experiences of people seeking asylum in this way – with detention and deportation – is simply unconscionable …

“When the government tried to send the first flight to Rwanda back in June, it didn’t take off as one by one ways were found to challenge the deportation of each person on the plane. But today the challenge to the legality of the plan itself … had its first day in court. Groups all around the country are coming together as we are in Hastings to show how determined we are to oppose this plan and to fight for the right of every human to be treated in a fair and dignified way.

“We need to keep a high profile. Have your photo taken with one of the Stop Rwanda placards and post on social media as part of the C4C campaign. Tag Sally-Ann Hart to constantly remind her how many of her constituents oppose this plan. Or write to her (again) or write to local and national newspapers – Care 4 Calais has lots of resources on its website to help.

“The Rwanda Plan is fundamentally wrong. It is shameful and it must be stopped.”

For more information and resources visit care4calais.org.

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