A little anecdote from 21 years ago … 17 months before 9/11 happened, when an aeroplane hijacked in Kabul landed at Stansted airport.
It was a scheduled domestic flight to Mazar-e Sharif and had 165 Afghan people on board ... 🧵
It was a scheduled domestic flight to Mazar-e Sharif and had 165 Afghan people on board ... 🧵
This was how the BBC reported the Government’s response in February 2000
Then Home Secretary Jack Straw refused to offer asylum to any of those on board fleeing the Taliban
Then Home Secretary Jack Straw refused to offer asylum to any of those on board fleeing the Taliban
If Straw’s response seemed callous, then check the response from then Leader of the Opposition William Hague:
"We must not allow this country to reinforce its growing image as a soft touch for asylum seekers."
This was the UK view of people fleeing the Taliban in 2000
"We must not allow this country to reinforce its growing image as a soft touch for asylum seekers."
This was the UK view of people fleeing the Taliban in 2000
In the parliamentary debate that followed only one MP mentioned the Taliban.
That was Alice Mahon asking Jack Straw, “will he keep in mind the odious nature of the Taleban regime, which has eliminated women's rights and murdered and tortured its own citizens on an hourly basis?”
That was Alice Mahon asking Jack Straw, “will he keep in mind the odious nature of the Taleban regime, which has eliminated women's rights and murdered and tortured its own citizens on an hourly basis?”
Alice was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs - a former nurse and MP for Halifax from 1987-2005
The only MP then to talk about the horrors of the Taliban and the issue of women's rights in Afghanistan
The only MP then to talk about the horrors of the Taliban and the issue of women's rights in Afghanistan
Only 2 passengers were granted asylum initially.
Of the unsuccessful applicants, Mr Straw said he was "not satisfied that they have a well founded fear of persecution" in their native land (Afghanistan in 2000, four years into Taliban rule)
theguardian.com/uk/2000/mar/01…
Of the unsuccessful applicants, Mr Straw said he was "not satisfied that they have a well founded fear of persecution" in their native land (Afghanistan in 2000, four years into Taliban rule)
theguardian.com/uk/2000/mar/01…
This retrospective 20 years on in @CambridgeNewsUK reveals:
"The High Court ruled on May 10 2006 that the gang of men [i.e. the hijackers] should have been admitted as genuine refugees and allowed to live and work in the UK freely."
cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-new…
"The High Court ruled on May 10 2006 that the gang of men [i.e. the hijackers] should have been admitted as genuine refugees and allowed to live and work in the UK freely."
cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-new…
In that same parliamentary debate in 2000, @johnmcdonnellMP said,
"I hope that the incident will not be dragged into the current racist campaign that some parties are waging against asylum seekers. We need to weigh the import of our actions and words on such issues carefully."
"I hope that the incident will not be dragged into the current racist campaign that some parties are waging against asylum seekers. We need to weigh the import of our actions and words on such issues carefully."
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