Sue-Ellen Suella Braverman

Hundreds of experts sign letter against government’s anti-asylum seeker Bill

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Demonstrators protesting against the Illegal Migration Bill in Parliament Square, London, during the second reading of the the bill in the House of Commons this evening. Picture date: Monday March 13, 2023.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/hundreds-experts-sign-letter-against-governments-asylum-seeker-bill

HUNDREDS of academic experts signed a joint letter today, condemning the Tory government’s anti-asylum seeker Bill as “not evidence based, workable or legal under human rights law.”

More than 300 scholars from mostly British universities warned that the Illegal Migration Bill will not stop small boats crossing the Channel but would increase “the chance of death” as people are funnelled into more dangerous journeys.

The letter – published online and in The Times newspaper – called the legislation, which cleared its first Commons hurdle on Monday, a “deterrence approach” by ministers in response to increasing numbers fleeing war and persecution.

But the experts warned that there is “no evidence that we are aware of to suggest that deterrence-based approaches are effective.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/hundreds-experts-sign-letter-against-governments-asylum-seeker-bill

Continue ReadingHundreds of experts sign letter against government’s anti-asylum seeker Bill

The **unofficial** Android update didn’t go well

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Thanks for making my heightened surveillance status so obvious – you couldn’t have made it more obvious really. A dodgy unannounced Android update that refuses to install smoothly, browsers on my lappy refusing to work as before – so that I can’t make purchases from shops that I use regularly. Surely I wouldn’t notice that?

If anyone is overseeing Sue-Ellen Braverman, please ask her why she is putting a political opponent under intrusive surveillance for me.

15/3/23: political opponent is probably the wrong term. The point I’m making is that these actions are for political rather than any legitimate purpose.

Continue ReadingThe **unofficial** Android update didn’t go well

Saluting Gary Lineker: challenge state racism. Don’t conform to it

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/saluting-gary-lineker-challenge-state-racism-dont-conform-it

THE BBC has reportedly rebuked Gary Lineker for describing the government’s anti-refugee rhetoric as “language not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s.”

The famous footballer and presenter’s tweet has enraged Tory MPs, some of whom have called for him to be sacked. But he is not the first to have called out the grim historical precedent.

It was child Holocaust survivor Joan Salter who confronted Home Secretary Suella Braverman earlier this year, pointing to exactly the same parallels between Nazi demonisation of Jews and the language she uses when attacking refugees.

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This Tory administration is extremist. Braverman admits she thinks it more likely than not her plans breach the European Convention on Human Rights, which we as a country are obliged to respect: she doesn’t care.

But the countering voice for a more compassionate, principled approach is absent from Westminster. Labour scaremongers over boat crossings as well to claim the Tories have lost control.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/saluting-gary-lineker-challenge-state-racism-dont-conform-it

Continue ReadingSaluting Gary Lineker: challenge state racism. Don’t conform to it

Braverman’s plans to lock up refugees breaches international law, UN warns

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/braverman-plans-to-lock-up-refugees-breaches-international-law-un-warns

Proposals to imprison asylum-seekers arriving by small boat would be illegal, UNHCR tells the Home Secretary

PROPOSALS endorsed by Suella Braverman to lock up refugees arriving in small boats and bar them from ever settling in Britain would breach international law, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.

The idea were set out in a report by right-wing think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, with a foreword written by the Home Secretary — seen as a partial endorsement of the measures.

The report suggests that,“if necessary” to tackle small boat crossings, Britain should withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights.

People who arrive “illegally” in Britain, it says, should be detained indefinitely and ministers should legislate to make it impossible to for a person who travels here from a “safe” country to claim asylum.

Hitting out at the report, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) questioned the authors’ use of the term “illegal,” noting that there is “no such thing as an illegal asylum-seeker.”

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Continue ReadingBraverman’s plans to lock up refugees breaches international law, UN warns

Home Office condemned over refusal to disclose numbers on Manston detainees potentially held unlawfully

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/home-office-condemned-over-refusal-disclose-numbers-manston-detainees-potentially-held

THE Home Office has been accused of hiding figures on the number of people it detained at Manston for longer than the legal limit in order to avoid paying them damages.

Potentially thousands of ex-detainees held at the notorious asylum-processing facility in Kent may be eligible for compensation, campaigners have claimed.

This is because asylum law requires asylum-seekers held at facilities like Manston to be released within 24 hours.

However, inspectors found that many had been detained for well over the limit, including families who’d been at the site for four weeks, putting the government in breach of the law.

It’s unclear how many asylum-seekers were potentially held unlawfully at Manston after numbers at the site swelled to 4,000 in early November, well over the maximum capacity of 1,600.

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Continue ReadingHome Office condemned over refusal to disclose numbers on Manston detainees potentially held unlawfully