Thread: Once upon a time #humanrights were supported across political parties, across other ideologies. Now we have members of the House of Lords calling for the UK to leave not only human rights conventions, but the refugee convention. #HumanRightsDay2022, #r4today 1/
Attacking #HumanRights weakens them for everyone, not just people you don't like. More than that though, by weakening them here we risk also compounding a global undermining of human rights. There's nothing "democratic" or "taking back control" about forcing people to suffer. 3/
Certain people keep claiming that human rights laws are preventing the UK from deporting "dangerous criminals". Declines in enforced removals, which are now going up again, have nothing to do with any magic legal loophole used by "lefty lawyers". 4/
gov.uk/government/sta… ImageImage
Only the other week Nick Timothy, former advisor to Theresa May who famously lied about human rights preventing removals, co-wrote a report which was widely condemned for many reasons, including its call to deny asylum seekers #humanrights. 5/
theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/d… ImageImage
The big one which they seem to have an issue with is the right not to be tortured or face inhumane or degrading treatment. To risk deporting people to face that would make most people step back and reconsider, rather than call it a "loophole". 6/
independent.co.uk/independentpre… Image
Both @Conservatives and @UKLabour have claimed though that they should be able to "fast track" returns to "safe countries", the problem is that those countries might not actually be safe for those being returned to them. 7/
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi… Image
If we take Albania as an example, as Albanians are facing attacks from all sides right now. Albania is a lovely country, but for many Albanians it isn't safe. When there is official complicity in trafficking they have no protection from trafficking. 8/
state.gov/reports/2022-t… Image
Imagine saying that domestic abuse victims should be sent back to the partner abusing them because you personally always found them to be okay, and yes I know that happens a lot. Sending trafficking victims back to their countries of origin is that on a geopolitical scale. 9/
There's no evidence people are "gaming* human rights and modern slavery laws on some grand scale, as highlighted here by @sianushka. Rather we're getting better at identifying victims of trafficking, which is undermined by attacking them. 10/
bylinetimes.com/2022/12/09/lit…
This isn't a uniquely UK based issue. Only this week @maybulman and @LHreports demonstrated evidence of significant human rights abuses being carried out with the knowledge of EU authorities. 11/
lighthousereports.nl/investigation/…
Attacks on #HumanRights aren't based on evidence. They are instead based on a shift in ideology. This has serious consequences, with rhetoric already putting people at risk even before laws to remove rights have been enacted. 12/
theguardian.com/law/2022/dec/0…
It isn't "virtue signalling" to defend human rights. Once the Conservatives stood up to protect them, including with creating the very Modern Slavery Act this government wants to destroy. 13/
legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/….
Even the @ukhomeoffice's own analysis shows that by enacting harsher asylum policies you risk increasing exploitation. Nothing about doing so helps stop trafficking. Rather it enables it. 14/
freemovement.org.uk/wp-content/upl
Defending #HumanRights shouldn't be party politics. It should be something we all do, if only out of self interest if nothing else. You have to be supremely confident that you will never need them to see human rights laws eroded, and no-one can be that confident. 15/
Countries which have removed rights under the guise of "the will of the people" and "retaining sovereignty" have a habit of ceasing to be democracies rather quickly. That's something which should concern all of us. 16/
#HumanRightsDay2022

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More from @stand_for_all

Dec 13
Unveiling even harsher asylum policies, which seem to violate international law with blanket refusals, won't reduce channel crossings. That will only happen by recognising that people, including Albanians, need protection and not discrimination. #r4today
thetimes.co.uk/article/5aa2f1… Image
The thing is none of this is even new. The same tired old policies which have been tested, tried and failed every single time, through being illegal, inhumane, unworkable or all three. There is evidence that harsher policies make things worse though.
google.com/url?sa=t&sourc…
People aren't "gaming modern slavery laws". Trafficking is increasing globally. The rise in people being referred to the National Referral Mechanism isn't from more people lying about trafficked. It is because we are getting better at identifying victims.

osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence…
Read 4 tweets
Dec 10
Thread: As yes the "liberal" defence of illegal and inhumane actions against people seeking safety. First off those "inconstestable" facts are indeed contested, by, uhm, the Home Office. Awkward. 1/
thetimes.co.uk/article/91c153… ImageImage
Rejecting human rights is unlikely to make a significant difference, unless that is you support removing people to countries where they face torture or inhumane treatment, in which case I would personally argue you cannot call yourself "liberal". 2/
ImageImage
Ah yes, the "liberal" argument of detaining people indefinitely. Keeping in mind you still cannot send them off to countries which you don't have a returns agreement with, at a cost of about £100 per day, so yeah, that works to save money Matt. 3/
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/brie…. ImageImage
Read 9 tweets
Dec 4
Thread: Okay, let's set some things straight here. We are in a cost of living crisis which is leaving millions destitute. If a relatively small number of people crossing the channel to seek safety is Sunak's biggest concern his priorities are broken. 1/

thetimes.co.uk/article/9b85d5…
"Concern", arguably driven by the sheer weight of misleading information, is growing, but still not even close to "vast". It still ranks way below other key issues, again like the economy, so, again, bit worrying that this seems to be the priority. 2/
yougov.co.uk/topics/educati…
Deep sigh. First off, any report written by Nick Timothy can pretty much be discounted immediately, but this one in particular is glaringly flawed. Let's start with those "official resettlement routes" shall we? 3/
Read 15 tweets
Dec 3
THREAD: I always feel awkward about whether or not being #ActuallyAutistic is a disability. I know technically, I suppose, it is. I don't see it as an issue. I live in near constant pain, that is a disability. Being autistic is just who I am. #InternationalDayOfDisability 1/
Okay, I'd better explain in more depth here, before I dig a hole I really can't get out of, although, I could just be digging it deeper. Being autistic is a rollercoaster, to say the least. It has good and bad points, and, let's be honest, has held me back in certain ways. 2/
I wouldn't change being #ActuallyAutistic for the world though. It would be like saying I wanted to change whether I breathed oxygen or not. It is just me, part of me, not the whole of me, but very much part of being me. 3/
Read 14 tweets
Nov 29
I say this as someone who is Christian. If you blame immigration on the decline of people identifying as Christian you are de-facto saying people shouldn't have a choice about whether or not they are Christian. The majority of people say they aren't. That's not about migration 1/
"This is a Christian country". Well, yeah, it's basically a theocracy if you want to look at very practical issues such as Bishops in the House of Lords or the head of state being also the head of the church, but does it matter if it is or it isn't? In real terms?. 2/
I'd argue not. My faith is my faith, and it is fairly complicated as it is anyway. I'll believe in what I believe no matter if anyone else does or doesn't. So long as it isn't causing harm then why do you honestly care what someone else believes or does not believe in? 3/
Read 6 tweets
Nov 29
Thread: Without formal returns agreements with those "safe countries" this is meaningless. You cannot "return" anyone to a country which hasn't agreed to take them. The end result therefore is leaving asylum seekers in limbo for even longer. 1/ #r4today

thetimes.co.uk/article/791fea…
Now, ironically, the UK does have an agreement with Albania, but calling it a "safe country" is stretching the definition to breaking point, particularly in relation to the protection of trafficking victims. 2/
state.gov/reports/2022-t…
Pretty certain something has changed in UK's relationship with neighbouring countries since the last Labour Government. Ah, yes, that's it, it left the EU, which means it left the Dublin Regulations, which had formalized mechanisms for returning people. 3/
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-brief…
Read 6 tweets

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