‘Supporting refugees is about respect’
Calls for action and solidarity amid concern over treatment of asylum seekers
Friday, 17th March 2023 — By Izzy Rowley
Cllr Michelline Safi Ngongo addressing the meeting
CALLS for action and solidarity rang out at an anti-racism meeting on Monday amid government moves to remove asylum seekers who reach the UK illegally – including small boats across the channel.
The new Illegal Migration Bill would lead to people being immediately detained and removed within weeks.
Andy Brown from Care4Calais told the meeting at Finsbury Park Mosque: “It is an absolutely draconian suggestion that immediately on arrival in Britain from an irregular route – that is to say the only route that’s actually available to you because there are no regular routes, or legal routes, or safe routes – you may be detained for up to a month without appeal or without chance of judicial review. The home secretary is then under obligation to remove them from the country as soon as possible.”
He added: “We should defend and support the refugees. Supporting refugees is not about giving to charity. It’s about saying to people ‘you’re welcome,’ it’s about integration, it’s about inclusion, and it’s about respect.”
Speaking to the BBC last week, home secretary Suella Braverman said: “We are confident that we are complying with the law, domestic and international. But we are also pushing the boundaries and we are testing innovative and novel legal arguments.”
Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, who arrived at the meeting organised by Islington and Haringey Stand Up to Racism after opposing the bill in a parliamentary debate, urged people to keep “open doors, open hearts, and open minds” to refugees.
Islington councillor Michelline Safi Ngongo described the everyday racism that refugees like herself face.
“You can tell from my accent, you can tell from my name, that I’m a refugee, and I’m not ashamed to introduce myself as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo,” she said.
“I have to be honest with you tonight, I still feel in my blood that I’m being told, no matter what, that I am a refugee.
“People will tell me ‘hey, go back to your country’ for no reason, just because I’m leafleting [door to door]. This situation has become deeper and more serious – we need to stand in solidarity.”
