Statement on Afghanistan

As the world turns its attention to the unfolding situation in Afghanistan a bold show of leadership and humanity is needed to ensure the people of Afghanistan, and all people seeking safety, have access to dignity and justice. 

The UK can and must take action. We urgently call on the government to

 

  • Implement a large scale and fully resourced emergency and long-term refugee resettlement programme based on the principles of welcome, dignity and justice.

 

  • Grant Refugee Status to all Afghan nationals who are in the UK claiming asylum or studying and create safe pathways for undocmented Afghan people in the UK to obtain their refugee status. 

 

  • Fully implement commitments under Human Rights and Humanitarian Law – protected by the 1951 Geneva Convention, and other international agreements and UN bodies – that guarantee the right to live in dignity and safety and the right to seek asylum. 

 

  • Scrap the Nationality and Borders Bill and its plan to punish refugees who arrive in the UK spontaneously. In its place, implement a fair and just international migration and refugee policy, ending the practice of outsourcing migration control to private for-profit companies and countries with poor human rights records and a lack of accountability

 

Migrants Organise CEO, Zrinka Bralo says 

“The UK must take a lead in helping people fleeing Afghanistan. We need to set up an emergency resettlement programme and evacuate people safely. All asylum seekers, students, undocumented people from Afghanistan in the UK right now should be given protection immediately. This is the least we can do right now.”

 

Now is the time to harness our solidarity for dignity and justice. 

 

In a joint statement with 60 other countries, the UK government has declared that ‘’The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity.  We in the international community stand ready to assist them.’’ 

 

This rhetoric however, must not be separated from our current internal anti-migrant context and the government’s plan to roll out a system of punishment, encampment and deportation to migrants and refugees through its Nationality and Borders Bill. 

 

The Bill plans to punish refugees who arrive in the UK spontaneously, push them into migrant prisons and limit their access to justice. Last week a young man from Eritrea, a country known for its oppressive human rights abuses, drowned crossing the channel to the UK. 

 

These cruel conditions are not inevitable, they are tough and hostile by design. Our own immigration and asylum system, with its system of dis-belief, detention and deportation is designed to re-traumatise the very people who need welcome, solidarity and dignity. 

 

Now is the time to demand a change. 

 

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 NOW IS THE TIME TO ORGANISE FOR DIGNITY AND JUSTICE 

Migrants Organise is a UK platform where migrants, refugees connect, build common ground, organise for dignity and justice for all.

We are building a movement for migrant justice, please sign and support our call for fair, humane immigration reform.

 

 

 

Need help? If you need immediate legal support please try the Refugee Council info Line: 0808 196 7272

Press: For press enquiries please email Ffion@migrantsorganise.org

 

Further Reading on the situation in Afghanistan: 

UNHCR Statement

Free Movement: So Much for the Safety of Kabul