Anti-racism protesters denounce UK plan to halt migrant Channel crossings
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Around 2,000 people, many carrying signs bearing trade union logos, marched in London against the Bill.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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LONDON - Anti-racism protesters marched in London on Saturday to demonstrate against the government’s contentious new plan to halt migrants crossing the Channel
Around 2,000 protesters, many carrying signs reading “no human being is illegal” and bearing trade union logos, marched towards Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s official residence.
Organisers said the demonstration was partly a response to the government’s “inhuman” and “illegal” Migration Bill.
“People in this country are decent... and they’re willing to open their arms to people who are fleeing terrible circumstances,” the protest’s planning officer, Mr Mark Daly, told the PA news agency.
“The government is trying to make these people not only unwelcome but illegal. We cannot classify people as illegal, it’s a racist policy from a racist government.”
Other protests took place in the Scottish city of Glasgow and the Welsh capital Cardiff.
The Conservative government intends to outlaw asylum claims by all illegal arrivals and transfer them to “safe” third countries, such as Rwanda, in a bid to stop thousands of migrants from crossing the Channel on small boats.
Exceptions would be made for minors, but only if they were unaccompanied.
More than 45,000 migrants arrived in Britain last year by crossing the English Channel on small boats.
UN ‘deeply concerned’
The United Nations’ children’s agency said last week that it was “deeply concerned” about the Bill’s potential impact on minors.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons earlier in March that stopping the boats was the “people’s priority”.
Interior Minister Suella Braverman visited Rwanda to reaffirm her commitment to the government’s policy to deport migrants there.
“I sincerely believe that this world-leading partnership between two allies and two friends, the United Kingdom and Rwanda, will lead the way in finding a solution which is both humanitarian and compassionate,” she said.
Mr Biruta told journalists: “This will not only help dismantle criminal human smuggling networks, but also save lives.”
Mrs Braverman has repeatedly insisted the government is within its rights to stop the migrants crossing the Channel, who she said could total 80,000 this year.
When she presented the Bill to Parliament last week, however, she attached a note conceding that she could not confirm yet whether the plan respected European human rights law. AFP
