Thread by @minnierahman

THREAD: Right now it is being reported that people may have died in the Channel, including a baby and a toddler.

The Home Office will spin this so that they are removed from responsibility. You'll hear noises about traffickers and lawyers. But whose fault is it really?

https://twitter.com/NEON_UK/status/1296124369794727942

I am VERY sure every single person in this country wants these crossings to end. I do not want a single person to have to make that terrifying journey or die trying. The solutions we pose will bring an end to this trend. jcwi.org.uk/briefing-safe-…

This year, we have taken in fewer asylum seekers than normal because all existing routes to the UK have been closed. NO resettlement has taken place. Routes for children closed. Family reunion at a minimum. It is no surprise that people are increasingly desperate.

Multiple deaths have occurred in that time. Campaigners, civil society organisations, parliamentarians have warned the Home Office that they will make this situation worse if they do not take logical steps to stop people from dying. jcwi.org.uk/joint-letter-o…

In 2019, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned that “a policy that focuses exclusively on closing borders will drive migrants to take more dangerous routes, and push them into the hands of criminal groups". Priti Patel was on this committee. They know the dangers.

But instead, the Government has chosen to waste OUR money thinking about oil rigs, wave machines and an island 4000 miles away. Suggestions that are 20 years old and 20 years stupid. I want a refund in the form of sensible, practical solutions.

And on safety, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Safety is not a country. Safe is a sense of belonging, wellbeing and being able to live your life in a way that you choose. We don't get to decide what makes someone safe. They do. huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/priti-pa…

Of course there are people out there who want to take advantage of desperate people. But the way to ensure they have no power, is to take it away from them. If there are ways to travel here in a safe, organised and controlled way - they will be redundant.

I remain unconvinced that British people want their money to be spent in a way which will result in people dying. Fine, people may be concerned about border control and crossings - but ultimately they do not want anyone to die.

All of this is to say, the Government increasingly has blood on its hands and they continue to ignore all the ways in which they could stop people from dying and uphold our responsibilities under the Refugee Convention.

I am angry. I am sad. I am frustrated that we are still here. Those people, those children, they could be living their lives as part of our communities. They could be working, going to school. They could be your friend, your partner, your daughter-in-law.

When we cut down these routes, when we allow people to die 15 miles off our shore, when we decide that these people don't matter because they don't look like us, we shrink ourselves. We make our communities weaker, darker and more afraid. It has to end .

And a caution to politicians of all colours - now is your time to stand up for migrants and refugees. The longer you go on burying your head in the sand, the longer you too have responsibility for what happens. It is barbarian. It is a violation. Do what you can to end it.