KEIR Starmer has been urged to stop using “painful” and “divisive” anti-migrant language by more than 130 refugee and human rights organisations.
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, coordinated by the campaign coalition Together With Refugees, the groups said that now is the time to move away from “hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language”.
The calls from the rights groups come as Starmer made controversial remarks before an international people-smuggling summit last Month.
Before attending the Organised Immigration Crime Summit, Starmer said: “But we all pay the price for insecure borders – from the cost of accommodating migrants to the strain on our public services. It is a basic question of fairness.”
The letter, which has 136 signatories ranging from organisations across the UK, including City of Sanctuary UK, Choose Love, and Scottish Refugee Council, called on the Prime Minister to unite communities.
The letter said: “Now is not the time to play into the hands of those seeking to build them-and-us division between local communities and refugees.
“It is the time to move away from the hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past and unite our communities for a different way forward.”
The letter continued that they agree with Starmer’s comment that immigration “is a basic question of fairness”.
It added: “But the searing experiences of last summer, when hate-filled mobs tried to burn down hotels hosting asylum seekers, make it clear that the path to fairness is not to be found in those pitting local communities against refugees seeking safety from persecution and war.”
The letter also responds to the summit’s focus on targeting smuggling gangs, saying rather than focusing on expensive new ways to disrupt people smugglers making the journey for refugees more dangerous, the UK Government should be looking at safer routes for refugees to come to Britain without risking their lives.
Tim Naor Hilton, the chief executive of Refugee Action, told the Guardian that hostile politics is fueling more racist and anti-immigrant anger amongst communities.
He said: “We need the prime minister and his government to be brave and ditch the divisive language that scapegoats migrants, including refugees and people seeking asylum.
“Hostile policies and rhetoric risk fuelling more of the racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant riots that tore through our communities last summer.
“The government must use language that focuses on unity and community resilience, and develop a new asylum system that is grounded in rights and justice.”
Nico Ndlovu, a signatory and the representative of the lived experience campaign group One Strong Voice, called for the UK Government to explore an asylum system that is more compassionate.
He told the Guardian: “The prime minister’s words this week make no recognition of our suffering and why we desperately need to find safety, or our contribution to this country, its economy and culture.
“It’s painful to hear him add his voice to this kind of hostile rhetoric. Rather than this summit’s narrow and expensive focus on people smugglers we need a proper vision for the asylum system, with a plan that is fair, compassionate and well managed.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “As the prime minister made clear, there is nothing compassionate about turning a blind eye to the vile gangs who ruthlessly exploit vulnerable people and trade in human misery.
“This is why we have launched an unprecedented global fight against these criminals to secure our borders as part of our plan for change.”
