People in Sheffield came together today to protest the government’s approach to migration, which they described as a ‘hostile anti-migrant agenda’.
The protest, called Demo to End the Hostile Environment, took place outside the Home Office building in Sheffield, which is home to the UK Visa & Immigration Centre in the city.
Organised by a coalition of migrant justice groups, it comes in response to the Rwanda Deportation plan.
The government is currently attempting to pass legislation that would make it legal to deport refugees to Rwanda.
Boucka Koffi, campaigner from the Voice for Voiceless Immigration Detainees Yorkshire, says: “The UK’s neo-colonial immigration system is hostile by design.
“The system developed directly out of the collapse of the British Empire and the desire to control the entry of racialised and dispossessed former colonised peoples.
“The only way to have a fair and just system is to scrap the current one. You cannot fix a written-off, designed to be inhumane, system.”
Veecca Smith Uka, an activist, and Convenor of Fresh Grassroots Rainbow Community and Yorkshire Migrants Solidarity Movement, says: “Today, we are showing our politicians that a better way is possible.
“Everyone who cares about our futures need to come together to strengthen the solidarity movement.”
“Every individual has the right to seek sanctuary in accordance with international law.
“Many people coming to the UK are fleeing from dire threats and persecution in their home countries.
“The UK’s hostile environment policies, which are both cruel and contrary to international norms, must be abolished.”
Yesterday, the House of Lords again delayed the government’s Rwanda bill, as it wants to ensure changes are made that would bring the Bill in accordance with international law.
The Lords also wants assurances that Rwanda is safe, and that appeals based on safety concerns would be permitted.
The Court of Appeals and the UK Supreme Court have ruled the policy as unlawful, concluding that there was a real risk of ‘refoulment’: refugees being deported back to their home country, where they could face ‘ill-treatment’.
However, the government’s veterans Minister said in Parliament: “My team have worked night and day to find permanent accommodation for circa 25,000 Afghans who the UK have provided sanctuary to.
“We want them to use safe routes, not undertake lethal channel crossings. Your concern is fake.”