Kent Refugee Action Network responds to new migration bill

Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) have described the new migration bill as “inhumane and cruel.”

The charity which supports refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) in Kent responded to the new migration bill today.

Sarah Munday from the charity, which is based in Wincheap in Canterbury, said: “It has been interesting listening to the second reading of the Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Lords today and in particular, the views of our patron Lord Dubs, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“As it makes its way through Parliament, we are urging the Government to immediately withdraw the bill, which we believe is inhumane and cruel.

“We all deserve to live safe from harm and to be treated with compassion, dignity and respect. This bill proposes to strip people fleeing war and persecution of their right to seek safety in the UK, simply based on how they came here.

“It will put them at risk of irreversible harm, with life and death consequences. And this includes many of the young people we work with.”

The Canterbury Hub reported earlier today on the Archbishop of Canterbury speaking at the House of Lords.

He condemned the government’s Illegal Migration Bill which seeks to prevent unlawful migration, by requiring the removal of anyone arriving in illegally in the UK to their home country or to a safe third country to have asylum claim processed.

Justin Welby stated: “I urge the government to reconsider much of the bill which fails to live up to our history, our moral responsibility, and our political and international interests.”

He also referred to the Rwanda deportation scheme “opposite the nature of God” just over a year ago after it was announced by Boris Johnsons administration.

But Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick urged peers to back the legislation adding that The Archbishop was “wrong” in his criticism, he said: “There is nothing moral about allowing the pernicious trade of people smugglers to continue.

“I want to see that stopped, and this bill is the only way to do that,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World at One.

Archbishop of Canterbury attacks government’s Illegal Migration Bill