- We deplore a UK government that brings shame on our country with a Rwanda policy that breaks international laws on human rights and refugee protection.
- We applaud the PCS Union (Union for Border Force officers) who are taking the government to court.
- We applaud all those local members of uniformed and voluntary services who do their job with humanity, who save lives, in a situation where safe routes have been closed and the vulnerable who seek asylum, risk drowning.
- We stand together with campaigners nationwide who protest against appalling Conservative government policy to fly asylum seekers / detainees to war-torn central Africa.
We are mindful that Britain's church and other religious leaders have said this government policy is, "an immoral policy that shames Britain", and we agree. We agree also with Prince Charles who has called the policy 'appalling'.
Even if the flight on 14 June did not happen because enough responsible people were able to use the rule of international law at the last minute, we need to continue the struggle to make this reprehensible UK government revert to a more moral, workable and compassionate policy.
The Rwanda flights policy does not punish or dissuade people traffickers, who profit from misery. It drives their victims, fleeing conflict, to self-harm and suicide. Safe routes, processing of applications 20 or 30 miles from Dover, across the channel, would reduce criminality. The costly Rwanda flights plan is another wrongheaded, headline-grabbing policy by a Conservative cabinet bereft of moral compass.
We believe our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who fought fascism 80 years ago would expect us to take this stand today, and we do.
