Labour's lost moral compass with vile anti-migrant plans
The Home Secretary’s nasty plans to change immigration rules are ‘vile and contemptible’ says Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman.
Shabana Mahmood’s reported plans to change immigration rules include making people seeking asylum wait 20 years before they can receive settled status, forced returns to countries deemed safe, and refugee status made temporary.
Maggie said:
"This is another vile and contemptible attack on fundamental human rights from a Labour party who has clearly lost its moral compass.
“No human is illegal. It is not illegal to seek asylum and refuge here in the UK - no matter the circumstances. What Shabana Mahmood is suggesting would essentially criminalise anyone who needs our help or safety.
“Whether a country is deemed safe or not does not dictate whether the individual who is seeking sanctuary will be safe there. Victims of trafficking, for example, may never be safe to return home, especially if the perpetrators of violence towards them are known to them, such as family members or local gangs.
“The Home Office is clearly no longer fit for purpose. An institution that handles immigration should do so with compassion, empathy and respect, not act as vile, dismissive bullies.”
Maggie added:
"The Home Office thrives on spreading division and hatred. We know that these laws will not be used against white immigrants like me. They will be used against people of colour and their families.
"The Home Secretary will be inflicting fear, anxiety, stigma and pain on people who are trying to get on with their lives. This is the reality she wants to create for people and their families who are trying to seek refuge to build a new, safe life in our country.
“She talks about immigration tearing our country apart. What is tearing our country - and our communities and families - apart is the hate-filled politics of division and scapegoating. Labour should know better. Scotland certainly deserves better!”