Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #NationalityAndBordersBill

Most recents (24)

It is ten years today since @theresa_may coined 'hostile environment' in an interview with the Telegraph. In (dis)honour, a 🧵on how *we* have enabled the Hostile Environment to hit this milestone + what comes next:
(Article by @Nadine_Writes) [1/13]
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
As @GlendaCaesar's recent experience demonstrates, Black and brown people (and migrants) exist in this country at the mercy of the government. Their rights and safeties get whisked away as swiftly and lightly as they are given. [2/13]
The Home Office now calls this portfolio of policies the 'compliant environment'. But it has nothing to do with compliance with law - if it did, it wouldn't give rise to illegal acts, such as arrest of refugees for steering boats *last Nov*, pre #NationalityAndBordersBill. [3/13]
Read 17 tweets
The revoking of Shamima Begum's citizenship sets a worrying precedent for the children of immigrants mediadiversified.org/2019/02/20/the…
Following her discovery by a British journalist in Syria, The Home Office has written to Shamima Begum’s parents to revoke her British citizenship. Shahnaz Ahsan writes that it is a reminder that children of immigrants will never be British enough
Read 8 tweets
#NationalityAndBordersBill #PCSCBILL
 
THREAD: The motive; could the cruelty have been imported here from a faraway land?

East meets West
 
As the Bill came back to the Commons yesterday, let’s consider the some of the key driving forces behind its ideology. 1/
Yes, Tory MPs have been supporting the Bill, however the lion’s share of the desire and drive arises from both @BorisJohnson being the PM, and the Home Secretary @pritipatel pushing it in order to appease their voter base. 2/
Patel is especially invested as she was charged to deliver the signicant electoral pledge of restricting immigration. However, the question of why Priti Patel as a PoC is hell-bent on pushing the #NationalityAndBordersBill has been asked a lot recently  3/
Read 25 tweets
The #NationalityAndBordersBill has been shown repeatedly not to be compliant with international law, but if @VotePursglove is so confident it does not, why not clarify that in the bill itself. If you don't do that what's to stop someone else using it to break the law later?
Please, for the love of God, could MP's this far into the debate about the #NationalityAndBordersBill learn who constitutes as being a refugee? I don't think that it too much to ask when you are planning on destroying their lives.
Our current "family reunion" routes aren't working. We have unaccompanied children, with family members in UK, abandoned elsewhere. I would also argue that "we may have to provide children with care and don't want to" kind of undermines the "we want to protect lives" argument.
Read 5 tweets
THREAD: #Rwanda, is it the best choice?

As we have all had had time to mull over the extraordinary revelations from last week, we thought it might be now a good time to dissect through some of the issues
This thread will focus on Rwanda in relation to the #PritiPatel deal. 1/
Most of you will have heard of #Rwanda from "Hotel Rwanda" a film that tells a bit about the Genocide that happened in the country in 1994 - in 100 days between April-July - >800,000 Tutsi people were killed in a national Genocide.
Rwanda has been rebuilding itself ever since. 2/
Why is it important that we dissect this deal from the #Rwanda angle?

Well put simply - its because the British gov #BorisJohnson #PritiPatel are deliberately not telling you, if they did, most Britons would be appalled & disgusted at how bad the scheme is for RW & refugees. 3/
Read 25 tweets
Look, as shocking as this may be to some, Priti Patel lied, a lot, on Parliament yesterday and was then backed up by MP's such as Andrea Leadsom who also lied. I know, I know, shocking to find out politicians lie, particularly about asylum seekers. 1/ #r4today
For years advocates have been putting forward workable policy suggestions to break the model of smuggling and trafficking gangs, easier access to asylum system, removing carrier liability fines, humanitarian visas etc etc, all of which cost less than the #RwandaMigrationPlan. 2/
What these plans have in common is that, unlike the government's proposals, these plans wouldn't actually place people at more risk of trafficking. They would also require the UK to, shock horror, provide asylum to people instead of trying to bring that number down to zero. 3/
Read 13 tweets
The Nationality and Borders Bill raises uncomfortable questions about our "British" Identity mediadiversified.org/2022/01/10/the…
'The #NationalityandBordersBill 2021 with its proposed laws making it easier to deprive Black and Asian people in particular of British citizenship provides a practical opportunity to confront the comforting lies we tell ourselves about what it means for us to be British,
..and how British lawmakers have always defined our sense of identity and belonging.
Read 22 tweets
Quite apart from the inhumanity & lack of ethical policy, or the naked cynicism, or irony in Johnson complaining about unlawful activity, who does he plan to send to Rwanda? The Ukrainian refugees his govt hasn’t processed, the Afghan refugees still stranded in hotel lobbies…?
When the details of this new low in British policy are announced tmw, Johnson must be grilled on the crucial *details* of offshoring e.g.
- is this indiscriminate or to whom will it apply?
- safeguarding for vulnerable people & minors?
- permanent or temporary?
- cost? Etc.
Important to view this new offshoring plan alongside the government’s #NationalityAndBordersBill.

UNHCR: Bill would penalise most refugees seeking asylum in the UK, creating an asylum model that undermines established international refugee protection rules & practices.
Read 4 tweets
This department is certainly cranking up its social media campaign in support of Home Secretary’s so-called #NewPlanForImmigration as set out in her #NationalityAndBordersBill.

But why would anyone be taken in by any of this? 1/7
It was August 2020, when Home Secretary announced she would make crossing Channel by boat to seek asylum “unviable”.

20 months later, as she was warned, her policies have only sustained the very conditions that lead to these journeys. 2/7
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
Last August, she hinted that a “Warm Welcome” for Afghan refugees might be expanded to double the number being provided for.

And yet, after over 7 months, that welcome remains to be fulfilled even for people who had by then been emergency evacuated. 3/7
itv.com/news/2021-08-3…
Read 7 tweets
Prompted by a comment earlier from @LaurenHStarkey let's have a little dive into some of the differences between "smuggling" and "trafficking", and, before we start, both are bad and both can involve exploitation. 1/
In the simplest terms, and we'll get into why this isn't simple in a bit, trafficking, more often than not, is a longer term form of exploitation than smuggling, which is often seen as a one off transaction. 2/
Some people will also add that smuggling is voluntary and trafficking is not. Now, on the surface as a purely technical statement this is kind of true, but people really aren't excitedly looking to be smuggled and the gangs which do so prey on vulnerabilities. 3/
Read 14 tweets
The #NationalityAndBordersBill is back in the @UKHouseofLords. The Lords have to retain their previous stance and replace the amendments the commons stripped out. This bill is illegal and inhumane. It will only increase risks to refugees.

parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/76…
I have a lot of respect for Lord Paddick, but "no-one in their right mind would push back a dinghy" is not a strong enough safeguard against proposed pushbacks to warrant not standing against this policy.
A reminder that the #AntiRefugeeBill, if it becomes law, isn't just down to what this government would do, but what the next and the next. It is never enough in legislation to just say "we won't do that", because even if you won't the next government might.
Read 34 tweets
[1/19]

#NotACriminal #TogetherWithRefugees #STOPNABB

THREAD:
Who are the real criminals?

The #NationalityAndBordersBill is cruel, steeped in #racism and it criminalises...
[2/19]
Lets first consider the sentiment underpinning this, it is probably best expressed by Conservative MP Bill Wiggin while speaking at the Commons Liaison Committee on Wednesday 30th March, addressing the Prime minister as he outlines in his view the “right” sort of #refugees
[3/19]
In reply to Bill Wiggin’s question, the Prime Minister sighted the #NationalityAndBordersBill as being the solution.

Let’s take a brief look at this dreaded #NABB: When the Bill was devised, it was rushed through into official consideration containing placeholder clauses
Read 19 tweets
🧵about #ElectronicTravelAuthorisation the British govt wants to introduce as part of its #NationalityAndBordersBill - esp in light of last night's vote to overturn the recent House of Lords amendment exempting local journeys within island of Ireland.
1/
irishtimes.com/news/ireland/i…
Firstly, this is being introduced with little/no understanding of day-to-day realities within border communities.
But TBH that's hardly surprising given the current British govt's obsession with little-Englander exceptionalism and its general ignorance of Ireland.
2/
Though I am a wee bit exasperated that many of those expressing outrage about ETA "leading to a hard border", "tearing up the CTA", "breaking the GFA" are seemingly unaware that's there's already an #InvisibleHardBorder for anyone needing a visa to cross the border.
3/
Read 27 tweets
Tomorrow MPs will vote, one by one, to take changes made in House of Lords back out of the #NationalityAndBordersBill which has rightly been called the #AntiRefugeeBill.
Here, in plain English, are some of the key changes that MPs will consider 🧵 #r4today
Lords voted to remove power for the Home Secretary to strip British nationals of citizenship without informing them of the fact.

Latest in a line of govts widening citizenship stripping powers.

Tomorrow, MPs are likely to vote this power back in. #citizenshipisaright #r4today
Lords voted to remove the power for refugees to be sent “offshore” before we have examined their claim for protection.

This is immediate deportation for almost all refugees, to camps where we’d pay to keep them indefinitely.

Tomorrow MPs are likely to vote it back in. #r4today
Read 15 tweets
[1/8]
#NationalityAndBordersBill #SOC

Please keep in mind the #BordersBill is back in parliament on Monday, and they’re due to vote on this…

THREAD:
Has the Ukraine crisis transformed Britain’s approach to refugees?
[2/8]
Considering this government won the last election based on their Brexit promise to “take back control” of our borders -

“One of this government’s central ideas is to be tough on immigration and asylum and next week it’ll bring back to
[3/8]
#NationalityAndBordersBill , but for now, it’s having to show that Britain is open to the people who need our help”

On one hand the government has been determined to hang on to a visa system which explains why they have been extremely sluggish in setting up their processes
Read 8 tweets
So people can't even get visas to access the scheme. This is why, rather than cobbling together a hodgepodge plan which puts refugees at yet more risk, the government needs to treat this as an asylum situation and activate protection measures. 1/ #r4today

theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/m…
Instead though they've continued to treat the Ukrainian war as an immigration situation which needs visas, as if people are choosing to come to UK for fun. Asylum and immigration systems are different and include different responses, that's why you can't use one for the other. 2/
Government needs to though, with its cack-handed attempt to privatise protection through #HomesForUkraine scheme. Treating Ukrainians as asylum seekers would show up what a dangerous, illegal, discriminatory and inhumane piece of legislation the #NationalityAndBordersBill is. 3/
Read 4 tweets
Thread: In theory, the new #HomesForUkraine scheme starts working today. As more information comes out the clearer it becomes how unsuitable and ill-prepared it is. Rather than alleviate concerns it has become nigh on inevitable that it will increase exploitation. 1/ #r4today
You can argue "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good", problem is this scheme is neither perfect nor good. If traffickers were to design something to maximize ways to exploit people it would potentially look like this, and it doesn't need to. We already have models which work 2/
Local authorities mechanisms already exist, and as shown in the past, could be activated to provide necessary protection and support through a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary approach, which would meet immediate safeguarding needs. 3/
Read 18 tweets
Thread: The government's latest scheme to help Ukrainian refugees raises quite a number of concerns and even more questions. Yes, the UK needs to do something, but this really doesn't seem like the answer based on the available information. 1/ #r4today
After calls for the UK to move quickly and waive visas it may seem strange to criticise the scheme. Waiving visas still, however, required that the government provide assistance and support for refugees. It was never about just saying "come in and sort yourselves out". 2/
The most significant risk is that increases the danger of refugees being exploited and even trafficked. We already see how a failure to provide proper specialist support puts, particularly children, at risk in hotels, this seems to multiply the issue. 3/
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
Read 16 tweets
An improvement, but the plan is still only a three year visa. People still need the right to seek asylum and be provided with long-term assistance. Not to mention, among other things, the real risks of exploitation which the sponsorship scheme opens up.

theguardian.com/world/2022/mar…
And this is a perfect example of why what is needed is for visas to be waived, not for a new visa scheme to be put. Home Office bureaucracy has been destroying people's lives for decades. Something tells me that increasing it isn't the way forward.

theguardian.com/world/2022/mar…
We have seen now schemes such as the seasonal workers scheme, you all remember, that was the one immigration minister Kevin Foster said Ukrainian refugees could use, have led to worker exploitation. This scheme risks being even worse.
Read 11 tweets
Thread: Conflicts are one of the main drivers of child trafficking. For years the UK government has conflated "trafficking", which can lead to long-term exploitation and "smuggling", which is predominantly transactional. 1/
bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur…
If the Government rejects amendments made by the House of Lords, the #nationalityandbordersbill will make it harder for trafficking survivors to come forward, by placing time limits on how long they have to present evidence and reveal the level of trauma they've been through. 2/
As the #Ukraine️ war continues we will see the tragic and inevitable rise of trafficking in the area, particularly with children. As it stands the UK government's proposed legislation would see them risk being treated as adults, disbelieved, and criminalised. 3/
Read 6 tweets
The government refused yet again to #FixTheDigitalStatus yesterday in the House of Lords, causing needless suffering to the most vulnerable. Ignoring countless calls to provide physical proof to EU citizens is wrong. We need to see meaningful engagement now.
Peers debated #Amendment79 of the #NationalityAndBordersBill to give physical proof of immigration status. Unfortunately there were not enough votes in support at the late hour it was debated. This problem isn't going away and we need the govt to address it.
Thank you to all of you who have raised your voices and demanded for the government to #FixTheDigitalStatus by writing to peers. Your stories have been heard loud and clear.
Read 9 tweets
Thread: Refugees don't need visas. Under international refugee law they cannot be penalised for their manner of entry, which is just one way in which the government's proposals for #NationalityAndBordersBill would violate international law. It isn't so simple though. 1/ #r4today
You know all those stories you see about "small boat crossings"? The politicians and pundits who claim that anyone crossing the channel is an "economic migrant"? Yeah, now you see with the failure of the UK to support those fleeing the #UkraineRussianWar why it was never true. 2/
It doesn't matter where someone is fleeing, the basic reasons for trying to reach the UK remain the same, language and family/friendship ties. Most refugees do remain in their regions of origin, not always by choice, but some don't. 3/
Read 13 tweets
Lord's debating age assessments in the #NationalityAndBordersBill, and in an entirely predictable turn of events Lord Green, of Migration Watch, misrepresents data to try and push an amendment which would see anyone who "looks 18+" automatically treated as an adult. 1/
This would obviously mean that inevitably more children would be held in adult facilities and denied their legal rights to protection. It would also increase the number of age disputes, which he uses to justify his argument. 2/
What his use of figures fails to take into account are, the number of those age disputes overturned, that many were conducted using "short assessments, which have been found to be unlawful, and the increase in use of age assessments by Home Office to attempt to deny asylum. 3/
Read 10 tweets
1/6 🧵

save0urcitizenships.wordpress.com
#NationalityAndBordersBill #SOC

Bill of barriers for Child citizenship:

The fee for a child registering as a British citizen currently stands at ÂŁ1012 and the home office confirms that the cost of registration to be
only ÂŁ372.
2/6
The remaining £640 is therefore money made above the delivery of the service. Therefore, this level of fees do not reflect the cost of registration. And subsequently, under this government’s watch,
3/6
people have been prevented from accessing the immigration system leading to exclusion and isolation for children who are denied citizenship due to these barriers in their way. Citizenship should be about cost,
Read 6 tweets

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