STOP
RACIST SCAPEGOATING
DEFEND
ASYLUM SEEKERS
7.30pm
Council
Chamber of Harlow Town Hall
Below
is a statement signed by, amongst others, Tony Benn MP, John Wadham (Director of
Liberty), Bruce Kent, John Foster (General Secretary NUJ), Dave Toomer
(President NUJ), Mick Chatwin (Legal Director of the Joint Council for the
Welfare of Immigrants), and countless others involved in the academic, legal and
welfare areas.
"We, the undersigned, are writing to protest at the torrent of abuse currently being aimed at asylum seekers by sections of the national press. The most vulnerable group of people, fleeing persecution, oppression and war, is being falsely blamed for all the ills of British society.
The United Nations Commissioner for Refugees has rightly condemned the Tories for playing the race card in the run up to the local elections.
Asylum seekers have become the targets for a new racism. The stereotyping used in the past against Jews, and then black and Asian people coming to this country is now being employed against asylum seekers, especially those from Eastern Europe.
Racist sentiment is being inflamed when terms such as "floods" and "tidal waves" are used to describe the relatively small number of asylum seekers arriving here.
We are continually being told that Britain is a "soft touch". In reality, we have the harshest asylum regime in Western Europe. Britain takes less refugees per head of population than Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark and Canada.
The New Labour government says it wants to combat racism in the aftermath of the Lawrence inquiry. Yet its attacks on asylum seekers, such as its policy of forced dispersal and the voucher system, are encouraging racism……..
We believe that asylum seekers deserve our compassion and help. They do not deserve to be vilified and treated as criminals.
We call on everybody who is sickened by the witch-hunt against asylum
seekers to make their voice heard."
Harlow TUC would echo these words. We would also
point out that the economic and social problems faced by large numbers of people
in this country need to be seriously tackled by this Labour Government
(particularly housing). These problems are not caused by asylum seekers, nor by
any of the other groups, down the years, that have been used as scapegoats. But
unless these underlying problems are explained and a strategy put in place to
solve them, racist bigotry will continue to raise its ugly head. The purpose of
this meeting is to answer the myths surrounding asylum seekers and to discuss a
way forward to tackle these underlying economic and social problems.
Plenty of time
for questions and discussion.