Unless tomorrow’s High Court appeal is successful, the first of Priti Patel’s much-hated deportation flights to Rwanda is set to go ahead on Tuesday.
Last week, a variety of groups and supporters demonstrated outside the Rwanda High Commission in Seymour Place, London, calling for Rwanda to drop the deal.
The protest, organised by Movement For Justice, attracted more than a hundred people at short notice, with nearly three hours of speeches and chants taking over the road outside the Rwandan office.
The Home Office claims the deal will let refugees build their lives in safety, but the country’s human rights record is appalling. Protest rights, abortion rights, freedom of the press, privacy, and freedom of expression are all under question. The judicial system is unfair and there have been enforced disappearances too. Kurdish people suffer discrimination, and gay rights are non-existent.
The country is about the size of Wales but with a population of around 13 million mainly poor people.
Shadi Sadr, exiled Iranian human rights lawyer, told the story of an ex-police commander, tortured for refusing to shoot peaceful protesters. Seeking asylum in the UK, he’s being sent to Rwanda with no right of appeal.
Tony Gard, co-founder of Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary, spoke at a rally outside the Rwandan High Commission in London on Wednesday, ahead of the first deportation flight planned for next Tuesday.
He thinks that Johnson’s government is trying to appeal to racists and get them out on the streets, but the problem for this plan is that the UK’s white population is just not racist enough, and so we can fight these horrific plans by working together.
Movement For Justice have asked Arsenal football supporters to challenge their club’s commercial relationship with the Rwandan government. Airlines thought to be involved in deportation flights are being targeted on social media, and there is a rally outside the Home Office tomorrow (Monday) at 5.30pm.
