I have, technically, been on annual leave this week, which just means being stuck in my own head and worrying about work ahead of going back next week. So let's have a little dive into being #ActuallyAutistic and being unable to switch off, along with a couple of other things. 1/ First and foremost, the next person to tell me I should "just switch off" will likely cop some harsh words. Why do people say that? Do they think that they are suggesting something which no-one ever thought of before? 2/

I'm begging @UKLabour to shelve the rhetoric of "our cruelty will be more competent" on asylum. Anyone who knows enough about this subject to comment knows returns just create a cycle of exploitation and harsher border policies force more people into irregular routes. 1/ #r4today Instead of criticising @Conservatives for incompetence, @UKLabour should be focused on their inhumanity. All the evidence shows that if you want to reduce people using irregular routes, and thereby tackle gangs, you need to make it safer and simpler for people to seek asylum. 2/

This government has been warned repeatedly about this. More than a year ago we were seeing children being actively mis-aged by the Home Office. They know they're putting chicken at risk. You have to be supremely twisted to support that. #r4today. 1/
theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/j…
Do some adults try and pretend to be children? Yes, some do. There's no denying that, but they form a minority. When people quote "age discrepancy" statistics etc, what they tend to miss out is that children are far more likely to be treated as adults than the other way round. 2/

A lot of people struggle at this time of year, I know I can, so hopefully this thread may help some either to get the assistance they need, or to support charities so others can. It is far from an exhaustive list. There are so many great charities providing much needed help. 1/ First up, if you need to talk then the @samaritans are there to help. They are open every day, all day, and always there to listen. They have been an absolute rock at times, and are for so many people. 2/
samaritans.org

For those following along at home we are in the position whereby, due to Rwanda breaking international law the UK put forward a bill to allow it to break international law, so it could do a deal with Rwanda, but Rwanda doesn't want the deal if the UK breaks international law. 1/ In the meantime, because this isn't heading into the realms of farcical enough, the Minister for Immigration who championed the first deal which would break international law has now quit because the deal to allow the first to happen didn't break enough international laws. 2/

The principle of non-refoulement is at the heart of more than just the Refugee Convention. It is perhaps one of the simplest principles in international law. All it means is that you don't send people to a country where their lives are at risk. 1/ When you say that you want to "axe" the principle of non-refoulement, you are, deliberately or otherwise, saying that you have no issues with innocent people being persecuted, tortured or killed. You know, so long as it is somewhere else and you don't have to watch. 2/

I see it took less time than usual, actually it didn't, for client journalists to back the idea that human rights need to be destroyed to be defended. The options listed here are clearly false, and still don't include the options needed. 1/ #r4today

thetimes.co.uk/article/c9f6e0…
I am begging journalists to stop claiming the Australian system is:
1) effective
2) lawful
It's not. It has been demonstrated to be a failure which cost lives. The last thing any country should do is see Australia as a role model on this. 2/ #r4today
theguardian.com/australia-news…

All this talk about how "Sunak is waiting for the verdict on the Rwanda policy" before sacking Braverman isn't quite the politically astute move some seem to think. Long thread on the pointlessness of the Rwanda policy and why Sunak's best option is to fire Braverman before. 1/ First off, fairly obviously, it means this drags on until Wednesday. That's a long time in politics at the best of times. From a political perspective there are two main ways this plays out at this stage. 2/

Hmmm, let's look at the claims in the @ukhomeoffice's latest video individually shall we? Because they aren't exactly giving the full picture, by which I mean that while some are accurate in a very technical sense, all are disingenuous in the dictionary, and real world, sense. 1/ The Bibby Stockholm was undeniably used by oil rig workers. Couple of key points, firstly the "decades" bit. This is a nearly fifty year old barge, which has had the capacity doubled. It has also been criticized by former oil rig workers who used it. 2/
. pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/uk/603…

This is all too common, even among MPs and Lords. They really don't seem to understand the fundamentals of the Rwanda plan. People will be forcibly shipped to a country which routinely violates human rights, and permanently barred from ever coming to the UK. 1/

https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1709847008725352557

Their claims will not be heard under UK asylum law, and instead under the Rwandan system, which has accepted ZERO, applications from the likes of Afghanistan and Yemen. They and their children will be denied asylum in the UK in the future. 2/

Long thread: A common refrain in the media and from @Conservatives is that there are "no alternatives" to their inhumane and odious anti-asylum policies. Sadly this appears to be a narrative which to some extent @UKLabour have bought into. It is not reality though. 1/25 Let's do a little scene setting though, because to understand what works you have to actually look at the evidence behind not only why people come to the UK seeking safety, bust also refugee movements in general. 2/25

Let's just clear this up, the Ukraine scheme is not a resettlement route. It does not provide asylum. It is a highly limited three year visa, many of which will be running out without this government having anything in place to ensure those on them can still find safety here. 1/ It also demonstrates exactly why claiming making it safer and simpler for people to reach the UK will lead to substantially more people seeking asylum here is nonsense. Majority of Ukrainians have remained closer to Ukraine, just as majority of refugees do globally. 2/

THREAD: One of the common "gotchas" from those opposed to providing people with asylum has always been "why don't you put them up then". They tend to think it is highly clever, yet ignore how fatuous and ridiculous it is on a number of levels. 1/ First and foremost, those seeking asylum need to be able to rebuild their lives. They have often left behind everything they know, everyone they love. It is imperative that they have agency in their own lives to recover from that, and proper support to do so. 2/

This is an important threat by Lord Dubs, however, if I may raise one issue. Asylum seekers are migrants. A migrant is by definition anyone who moves. Now we have taken it to mean across borders, but migration happens internally as well. 1/

https://twitter.com/AlfDubs/status/1666158877526614017

I agree entirely with @AlfDubs that the immigration system and the asylum system are being conflated, despite being two different things, and that this is where the differentiation of the terms becomes both useful, and problematic. 2/

Sunak's whole pitch on asylum seekers is other countries who already take more per capita than the UK should take even more on the sole basis that the UK wants to take even fewer than the tiny fraction it currently does. As arguments go it is beyond weak. inews.co.uk/news/world/ris…+ Coupled with this is the argument that somehow the UK, one of the largest economies in the world is unable to take asylum seekers, but a country the size of Wales with rampant poverty and nearly twice the number of people per km2 is more than able to. IT MAKES NO SENSE.

If the government thinks Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Syria are safe it isn't only concerning from a refugee protection perspective, it's terrifying from a foreign policy one. Yet these are the countries from which majority of those crossing the channel come from. 1/5

https://twitter.com/refugeecouncil/status/1665704421437714433

That Afghans and Syrians are forced into using irregular routes should be a wake up call to the government that its widely publicised official routes don't work, and that's before you look at the lack of any other option for most other nationalities. 2/5

The vast majority costs people complain about in the asylum system already go on "deterrents", detention and deportation. It isn't just more humane to have a functioning system which provides safer and simpler means to seek asylum, and processes claims. 1/
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi… It is cheaper to provide protection to asylum seekers. Even the Home Office's own analysis shows that it knows harsher policies just force more people into taking more dangerous journeys and ending up in exploitation. 2/

My long running attempt to write a book on refugees, and how universal open borders are as close to a silver bullet for a number of global issues as you'll get, has also morphed into an insight into how I find being autistic helps me work in the sector and be good at policy. 1/ The thing is being #ActuallyAutistic is all part of how I think. My brain is wired differently, and that actually helps when seeing links and solutions. The downside is that I then need to explain these to my audience, which means delving into how my autistic brain works. 2/

Thread. As the #RefugeeBanBill faces scrutiny from the Lords today the Home Secretary and Justice Secretary have taken one of their pet papers to spread yet more misinformation. 1/ #r4today
thetimes.co.uk/article/b37b29… First things first. Asylum and refugees are only mentioned once in the Conservative 2019 Manifesto. As opposed to being a "manifesto commitment, the #RefugeeBanBill would directly contravene the only one they made. 2/
conservatives.com/our-plan/conse…

We have already seen the high levels of mental and physical health issues, including suicides, which existing substandard accommodation cause. The use of a cramped, rusting, barge will only increase these issues and put more people's lives at risk. #r4today 1/ Rather than continuing to waste money on cruel and inhumane policies, this government needs to start investing in the asylum system to process claims faster, and into communities to ensure everyone is supported, locals and asylum seekers alike. 2/

Somewhere a Home Office official is flipping a coin for whether Albanians or Indians will be this year's scapegoat. 1/ #r4today

thetimes.co.uk/article/15de3a… These numbers are very low. The bigger issue is how they show that even when the government has resettlement routes on paper they are so inadequate people are forced to use irregular means to seek asylum in the UK. 2/