The United Reformed Church joined some of the UK’s biggest charities in writing to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to express deep concern at the government’s direction on immigration, urging her to change course.
The open letter, signed by Catriona Wheeler, URC General Assembly Moderator, and published by The Guardian last week, was coordinated by Refugee Action and signed by more than 100 organisations.
The letter in full is as follows:
Dear Home Secretary,
We are writing to you on behalf of 105 organisations working across different sectors to express our deep concern about the direction taken by the government around immigration and further hostile asylum policies. The people we help, and hear from every day, are all impacted by politics of division rather than solutions. After years of these policies the asylum system is at a breaking point, and our streets have become scenes of violence. We are asking you now to unite communities and invest in meaningful solutions to prevent further damage.
The government wants to deliver growth and renew Britain. This requires tackling issues such as growing extreme inequality, underfunded councils, lack of investment in quality housing, a crumbling NHS, the climate emergency and polluted waters. Targeting refugees will do nothing to tackle these structural issues or improve people’s lives. It only serves as a dangerous smokescreen to scapegoat the most vulnerable and distract from the very real dangers to our society.
Anger and division will never satisfy voters in the long-term. They cause tensions in our communities, dividing us and tearing the social fabric of our society. We have seen what happens when this is allowed to escalate, such as last year’s racist riots, this year’s disturbing demonstrations outside asylum accommodation sites and the most recent far-right rally in London promoting racism and hate speech, which record numbers attended. In her review of the Windrush scandal, Wendy Williams said that migration and wider Home Office policy is about people and should be rooted in humanity. By not changing approach, the government is in danger of repeating the same mistakes.
Before taking further action, we ask you to engage with local authorities, frontline organisations and people with lived experience. These are the people who face the reality of the hostile policies and rhetoric every day. We understand what is working and where the system is breaking down. We live the real threats to our communities.
As the new Home Secretary, you now have an opportunity to turn the tide, and to end the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that only cause harm. The government runs the risk of this country accelerating along a dangerous path, and now is the time to urgently correct this and change course.
We look forward to your reply to our concerns and hearing how you will be working to unite communities, ease tensions and support solutions to improve people’s lives.
Signatories include Save the Children, Mind, Oxfam, Shelter, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, as well as dozens of migrant and anti-racist charities. It was also signed by the PCS Union, which represents Border Force workers. A full list is available via Refugee Action.
Image: Shabana Mahmood/UK Home Office/Flickr/CC By 4.0