PRESS RELEASE : Greens condemn cruel blanket ban on asylum claims and call for compassionate welcome for refugees [October 2022]

The press release issued by the Green Party on 5 October 2022.

The Green Party has condemned the government over its planned blanket ban on asylum claims from people who arrive ‘illegally’ [1]. They have repeated their call for a kinder fairer process where the UK works together with European neighbours to open up safe routes to help all those in need.

Benali Hamdache, Green Party spokesperson on Migration and Refugee Support, said:

“This government is now committed to turning away nearly every refugee in need, at a time when the world is an increasingly less stable place. No one chooses to be a refugee, but conflict and the climate crisis are driving millions out of their homes.

“Rather than accept that fact, the Tories are scapegoating desperate people. They’re chasing populist headlines rather than creating a kinder fairer process that is so desperately needed.

“And in the face of the most draconian attack on refugee rights, Labour had nothing to say, merely parroting Tory lines on the legality of migration [2]. It’s clear only the Green Party will stand up for migrants and refugees.

“We will always welcome refugees. We’d work together with our European neighbours to open up safe routes to help all those in need.”

Green Party co-leader, Carla Denyer, added:

“Nine in every ten people who travel by boat across the Channel come from 10 countries where human rights abuses and persecution are common. What the government is proposing would essentially end the right to claim asylum for those who need it most. The choice is clear: a cruel ban on refugees by the Tories or a compassionate welcome from the Greens.”

Notes

[1] Suella Braverman says Channel migrants will be banned from claiming asylum in UK | Evening Standard

[2] Sky News on Twitter: Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP