Isai Marijerla, Waltham Forest Socialist Party and Refugee Rights Campaign
More than 1,500 angry protesters gathered outside the Home Office on 13 June. Despite many legal challenges, state institutions, including the Home Office and the courts, are backing Tory policies of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The expulsion of desperate people is the new tactic of the government to attempt to deter migrants fleeing war and oppression. Faced with growing anger at the rising cost of living, the Tories will hope to use migrants as a scapegoat. But the sight of Tory MPs cheering as they hear of asylum seekers’ legal appeals getting rejected will turn many workers’ stomachs.
The scheme has faced widespread opposition from more than 160 charities and campaign groups (as well as church leaders and a prince!), a small number of which launched a legal challenge. On Monday 12 June, the Court of Appeal supported the High Court’s decision that it was in the “public interest” for the government to carry out its policies. But individual legal appeals have seen the number of people set to board the initial flight dwindle to single figures at the time of writing.
This is the latest of the government’s hostile racist immigration policies. It is on top of the Nationality and Borders Act, passed by parliament on 28 April. Because of these measures, the method of travel will be the key determinant of how refugees and asylum seekers are treated.
We defend the right of refugees and asylum seekers to asylum and the right to work. We oppose deportation and the running of detention centres by private companies which further exploit detainees.
Socialist Party members, along with the Refugee Rights Campaign, have attended protests against this hostile policy. We gave out leaflets with demands to stop deportations, to take the wealth off the 1% and invest in jobs, homes and services for all.
