Cumbrian group call on Home Secretary to stop 'immoral' migrant bill

The Cumbrian Race Equity Network (CREN) are a group of charities, organisations and individuals across the region led by Marcia Reid Fotheringham and Guy Tirvengadum.

The group has written to Ms Braverman saying that the “UK will lose its reputation as a global leader and will risk becoming a pariah state” if the migration bill is passed.

The Illegal Migration Bill aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, although it has been denounced by the UN’s refugee agency as an effective 'asylum ban'.

In the letter addressed to the home secretary, CREN said that the government’s policies are “fuelling hatred and violence against people seeking asylum.”

They reference the recent anti-immigration march in Carlisle where protestors marched past the Hilltop Hotel where refugees are currently being housed by the government.

Protest march against asylum policy meets counter-protest in Carlisle (Image: Newsquest)

CREN said the march ‘deepened’ the distress of the ‘already traumatised’ refugees at the Hilltop Hotel, and that 'hate incidents and racist assaults increased in the wake of the protest'.

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“All this shows that hostile words lead to hostile actions," they said. "This government’s repeated use of terms like ‘illegal immigrants’ and ‘invasion’ is fuelling the far right in the UK and stoking a violent backlash.”

The bill would also see asylum seekers taken to Rwanda whilst their claims are processed, a move which CREN have called “immoral, illegal and unworkable” and that it would be “unlikely to be a deterrent to small boat crossings.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the legislation is needed as people arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel have “overwhelmed our asylum system”, before adding there has been 'too much' immigration in recent years.

The bill was backed at its first reading by MPs from across Cumbria including Carlisle’s MP John Stevenson and Workington MP Mark Jenkinson.

The illegal migration bill is currently at the committee stage of development.

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