And\u00a0none of this will\u00a0have the impact that\u00a0the government is\u00a0promising, because deterrence doesn\u2019t work\u00a0as a response to the forced movement of refugees<\/a>. Torture survivors often describe\u00a0their flight from persecution as\u00a0like escaping a burning building: you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0stop to read\u00a0the news or analyse complex policy in different countries \u2013 you are just running for your life. People come here because\u00a0they speak the language, they know the\u00a0culture,\u00a0or they have family here. If someone is willing to take a chance crossing\u00a0one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world,\u00a0then\u00a0no policy will ever stop them.\u00a0Without accessible safe routes, all\u00a0these cruel policies do is\u00a0make the journey\u00a0more dangerous.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The asylum system has become a battleground for political point-scoring. But it\u00a0shouldn\u2019t\u00a0be. It should be rooted in\u00a0dignity,\u00a0compassion\u00a0and competence. All we ask is for claims to be processed fairly and effectively. For survivors to\u00a0receive\u00a0the support they desperately need to recover. For the system to recognise\u00a0that behind every statistic is a person, with needs\u00a0\u2013 of course\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but\u00a0also with\u00a0great potential.\u00a0Instead of jumping on Nigel Farage\u2019s bandwagon<\/a>, we need real leadership \u2013 leaders willing to stand up and champion the rights and dignity of refugees.<\/p>\n People in this country are\u00a0caring. I know this from my own experience \u2013 from neighbours who supported me, colleagues who welcomed me and strangers who showed me kindness when I needed it most.\u00a0Compassion must never depend on nationality or skin colour.\u00a0But right now, racism<\/a>, xenophobia and\u00a0fear\u00a0are shaping policies that strip away vital protections and risk sending\u00a0people\u00a0back\u00a0into the hands of their torturers. We must ask ourselves: what kind of country do we want to be?<\/p>\n I still believe that we can choose a different path.\u00a0No-one wants to live in\u00a0a Britain that\u00a0uses\u00a0vulnerable people\u00a0as political scapegoats.\u00a0We can and must demand a\u00a0politics and an asylum\u00a0system that treats\u00a0refugees\u00a0with compassion. We can refuse to let hate\u00a0define\u00a0us.\u00a0Not because it is easy,\u00a0but\u00a0because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the right thing to do.<\/p>\n Dine is a member of\u00a0Survivors Speak OUT<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Freedom from Torture<\/a>\u00a0is the only UK-wide charity that exists specifically to support people who have survived torture to recover and rebuild their lives. Together, with survivors we speak out to expose torture and defend the rights of survivors, nationally and globally.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Change a vendor\u2019s life this Christmas.<\/strong><\/p>\n Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 or support online with a<\/strong>\u00a0vendor support kit<\/a>\u00a0or a<\/strong>\u00a0subscription<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and help people work their way out of poverty with dignity.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most harmful changes this year has been the move to\u00a0deny citizenship to people\u00a0who have come…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[2527,748,5554,393,1105,4884,8610,1144,391,20362,15894,32636,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-649764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-asylum-seekers","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-community","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-far-right","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-home-office","16":"tag-northern-ireland","17":"tag-opinion","18":"tag-race","19":"tag-racism","20":"tag-refugee","21":"tag-scotland","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom","24":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115767262751269469","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/article-CTA-Desktop-800x250-1.png\")
<\/p>\n