Haringey Welcome has just submitted a petition to the European Parliament expressing our concern for the continued protection of rights of refugees and migrants should a no deal Brexit go ahead. You can read the text below.
Continued Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Refugees and Migrants
Haringey Welcome is a local organisation based in Haringey, London, working
to ensure that both long-term residents and asylum seekers, refugees and
migrants are protected, respected and included into British society. We are
concerned about the consequences of the current political situation in Britain
for migrants and refugees and we resist the UK government Hostile
Environment policy.
As the whole Brexit debate has polarized attitudes in British society, migrants
and refugees have found themselves in a very vulnerable situation and are
finding themselves victims of hate speech, harassment and racist violence.
We and others fear that this will intensify if the United Kingdom leaves the
European Union without a deal in October 2019.
As the United Kingdom is still a Member State of the European Union, we
question whether it has fulfilled its duty to ensure the fundamental rights of
migrants and refugees, and the indivisible, universal values of human dignity,
freedom, equality and solidarity, as protected by the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union.
The government of the United Kingdom has also stated that they will not allow
for family reunification after October 31st 2019. Should this be enforced, this
will violate the rights of those who have arrived in Europe with a wish to seek
family reunification in the United Kingdom. This is a violation of the right to
family life protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union. The EU and the United Kingdom must do their outmost in protecting
the rights of the people who will be stranded in Europe and their families in
the UK.
In addition to this, many children of EU27 origin face losing their rights as a
result of Brexit. These children and youngsters need to apply for settled status
by the time the UK leave the European Union. However, a concerning amount
of youngsters and children living in care have not applied for settled status
yet, and are not being given the legal and social support needed to proceed
with their application. These youngsters risk being left without legal status in
the UK which could potentially lead to future detention and deportation as
happened during the Windrush scandal. This is a violation of their rights to
protection and their rights to citizenship.