Rights groups urge UK prime minister to hold back on anti-migrant rhetoric

A multitude of rights groups have asked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to hold back on his anti-migrant rhetoric over fears that it would stoke more violence against refugees.

More than 130 refugee and human rights organizations called on Starmer to stop using language that demonizes migrants, after he made controversial remarks before an international people-smuggling summit.

The criticisms from 136 rights group are all included in an open letter to the UK prime minister, coordinated by Together With Refugees, an umbrella group of more than 600 organizations.

In the letter to the prime minister, the organizations say, “Now is not the time to play into the hands of those seeking to build them-and-us division between local communities and refugees."

The rights organizations cited the mob attacks against refugees last year as an example of anti-migrant behavior.  

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"[T]he searing experiences of last summer, when hate-filled mobs tried to burn down hotels hosting asylum seekers, make it clear that the path to fairness is not to be found in those pitting local communities against refugees seeking safety from persecution and war.”

The rights organizations insisted that the UK government was required to refrain from hostile rhetoric targeting migrants.

"It is the time to move away from the hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonizing language of the past and unite our communities for a different way forward.”

The open letter to Starmer calls for a new plan for refugees that is compassionate and well managed including fair, rapid decisions on their application for asylum, and the chance to rebuild their lives, stronger global cooperation to tackle the root causes that force people to flee their homes and safe routes for refugees.

The letter also responds to the summit’s focus on targeting human-smuggling gangs, saying, “Rather than the border security summit’s focus on expensive new ways to disrupt people smugglers, often making the journey more dangerous for refugees, the government should be looking at safe routes for refugees to get here without risking their lives.”

Tim Naor Hilton, the chief executive of Refugee Action, said: “We need the prime minister and his government to be brave and ditch the divisive language that scapegoats migrants, including refugees and people seeking asylum.

“Hostile policies and rhetoric risk fueling more of the racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant riots that tore through our communities last summer.

“The government must use language that focuses on unity and community resilience, and develop a new asylum system that is grounded in rights and justice.”

Speaking to attendees from some 40 countries at the Organized Immigration Crime Summit in London on March 31, Starmer said countries needed to focus on tackling organized human trafficking.

“But we all pay the price for insecure borders – from the cost of accommodating migrants to the strain on our public services,” Starmer said, asking the attendees to take a tough stance against the ruthless human trafficking gangs who exploit vulnerable people and trade in their misery.

He called for an unprecedented global campaign to fight the criminal gangs to secure their borders as part of their plan for change.

Representatives form the United States, Vietnam, Iraq and France were among the attenders at the London summit aimed to tackle organized crime..

Among the 136 signatories of the open letter to Starmer included  human rights advocates and organizations from across the UK.

The refugee and human rights organizations included City of Sanctuary UK, Choose Love, Freedom from Torture, One Strong Voice, Rainbow Migration, Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Safe Passage International, Scottish Refugee Council, Welsh Refugee Council and the Public and Commercial Services Union.

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