The Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle Justice and Peace Co-ordinating Council endorses the words of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in condemning the Government’s passing of the Illegal Migration Bill on 17 July 2023.
As the JRS says “This Bill represents a ban on claiming asylum and contravenes the Refugee Convention. It will mean men, women, and children are incarcerated on a massive scale. It will leave hundreds and thousands in limbo for years on end. It will strip modern slavery survivors of protections and empower traffickers. And it has been forced through parliament at breakneck speed, avoiding scrutiny wherever possible. This Bill is anti-refugee, it is anti-human.”
The Justice and Peace Co-ordinating Council believes the Asylum system in the UK is not working; we believe that claims need to be processed fairly and quickly and there needs to be safe routes for people to come to this country to claim asylum. The Illegal Migration Bill does nothing to promote this.
We had been slightly encouraged that, for now, the proposed attempt to place people seeking asylum in barges on the Tyne has been stopped, but sadly the barges are going ahead in Portland.
Visit the Justice & Peace Illegal Migration Bill Campaign page [here] for further information and resource.