Af en toe denk ik echt dat ik gek word als ik berichten of petities lees. Dat overkwam mij gisteren weer toen ik een Twitter bericht van theCanary ontving. Naar nu blijkt stuurt de Britse regering kinderen terug naar hun land van herkomst, zelfs als het daar oorlog is!!!!

Wat stelt (excuseer) godverdomme dat hele VN Vluchtelingenverdrag nog voor???? Waar is de beschaving en nog enig ethisch gevoel gebleven??

Gelukkig zijn er nog mensen, die zich verzetten tegen deze fascistoïde inhumane gang van zaken, zie het verslag verderop van een demonstratie, die afgelopen zaterdag werd gehouden…….

Gelukkig zijn er nog mensen, die niet meegaan in het gebrul van neoliberale fascistische kranten als de Telegrof, mensen die zich durven te verzetten tegen woorden als een ‘asielzoekersplaag…….’

The
government has just been publicly shamed for deporting children to
war zones

JANUARY
16TH, 2017  STEVE
TOPPLE

On
Saturday 14 January, protesters rallied through Brixton, south
London. They were highlighting a government policy which is
seeing children deported to war zones. And the protesters called out
the government over what they describe as
“modern-day slave ships”.

Secret
flights and Skype calls

The
‘Movement For Justice By Any Means Necessary’ (MFJ)
was highlighting the government policy of
forcibly deporting foreign nationals, migrants, refugees, and
asylum seekers using secret charter flights. By and large, the
policy is not new. And as The
Canary reported on
12 January, the UK government is also deporting children back to
Afghanistan. A country the UN has described as
“one of the most dangerous, and most violent, crisis ridden
countries in the world”. But what is new about the government
policy is who the law surrounding it applies to.

Historically,
the law stated that the government had the power to deport foreign
nationals who had criminal records. This was also the case if the
Home Secretary thought deporting these people was ‘conducive
to the public good’. This applied regardless of how long
people had been living in the UK, and even whether they had
the right of residency here. Additionally, no appeal to the
government could be made until the person was in the country they had
been deported to. For example, in September
2016 openDemocracy reported on
the case of ‘James’. The government forcibly deported him on a
secret charter flight to Jamaica:

“James
was just four years old when he arrived in the UK. Now he is 30 and
father to three British children. In 2012 he was convicted of money
laundering and served two years in prison… Though James’s partner
and his children are British, the Home Office can still… [deport]
him from the UK. The Home Office advises people in this situation to
conduct their family relationships ‘…by telephone, email or…
Skype”.

One
size fits all

But
the Conservatives’ Immigration
Act 2016 changed
all of this. The law now states that
the so-called ‘deport first, appeal later’ clause applies to all
migrants who make an asylum or refugee claim. Including children. The
MFJ says the government operates charter flights to Nigeria, Ghana,
Pakistan, Jamaica and Afghanistan every two months. And figures
released by Corporate
Watch show
that, in 2015, the government deported 5,729 foreign national
offenders. But it also deported 12,111 people that year who had not
committed a crime.

To
stop the government deporting them, people have to prove that
it would cause “serious irreversible harm”. But as charity Unity
Centre says:

“The
burden of proof is of course on the appellant to prove that removal
would cause serious irreversible harm. No mean feat for appellants
who, in Unity’s experience are often without legal representation
and always detained”

Essentially,
the government can now deport anyone who makes an asylum or refugee
claim in the UK without recourse. But it is the government’s entire
‘deport first, appeal later’ policy that the MFJ was protesting
about.

Shutting
down Brixton

On
Saturday 14 January, the MFJ gathered outside the Ritzy cinema in
Brixton. Activists from Fathers
for Justice, Sisters
Uncut and Zimbabwe
Yes We Can Movement joined
the MFJ. Protesters were carrying banners, megaphones, whistles and
klaxons:

The
march went through much of Brixton’s main shopping centre.
Protesters were chanting “When the Home Office attacks, we fight
back!”:

They
were stopping and speaking to the public, and handing out leaflets.
The response to the MFJ from passers-by was overwhelmingly
supportive, with many saying they had direct experience of the
government’s policy. The march then

Brixton
High Street:

Divisive government policies

The
demonstration, the third in a fortnight of
direct action, passed off peacefully. But it was noticeable that,
even when protesters were blocking the roads, there was no police
presence on the march. In a statement, the MFJ said:

“The
government’s charter flights deport people who have built lives in
the UK; been here most of their lives; have parents, partners and
children here; students who have not finished their courses; people
with serious health problems and others who are carers to elderly and
disabled relatives. This is an over-reaching, racist policy hitting
individuals and families that never thought they had an ‘immigration
problem”.

By
applying this policy to anyone needing asylum or refugee status, the
government is attacking people fleeing from some of the most
dangerous places on Earth. And as the MFJ says, this feeds into the
“false argument” that immigrants are the cause of all the
problems in the UK. It is essential that society calls out racism of
any kind. Wherever it appears. And that includes divisive, cynical
government policies.

Get
Involved!

– Sign the
petition to
stop deportation charter flights.

– Support the
MFJ, and find out details of its upcoming events.

– Find
out more
about Sisters Uncut.

Featured
image via Pixabay,
and additional images via The Canary

==========

Benieuwd of e.e.a. ook in Nederland gebeurt, ach de vraag stellen is ‘m beantwoorden, immers als je een 18 jarige vluchteling bent, mag de regering je terugsturen, ook naar landen als Afghanistan….. Landen die het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (onder PvdA sierdrol Koenders) ‘veilig’ durft te noemen, terwijl men al hysterisch wordt, als hier een politieke moord passeert, of als er een land verder een aanslag plaatsvindt………. De overgrote meerderheid van jongeren die 18 zijn, zijn alles behalve volwassen….. (vandaar ook dat het ronduit misdadig is, om jongeren van onder de 23 te ronselen voor het leger…..)

Klik voor meer berichten n.a.v. het bovenstaande, op één van de labels, die u onder dit bericht terug kan vinden, dit geldt niet voor het label ‘MFJ’.