Humanists ask UK Government to rethink the new plan for immigration

June 15, 2021

We recently signed a joint letter coordinated by the Scottish Refugee Council that set out our grave concerns about the New Plan for Immigration and its potential to seriously undermine refugee rights in the UK. The full text of the letter can be found here, but in summary the letter (signed by 81 organisations representing bodies from Scottish civil society and faith and belief communities) raised serious concerns about the following aspects of the New Plan:

The letter was sent to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State for Scotland, and garnered a response from Chris Philp MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice. His response did not answer any of the substantive concerns about the New Plan for Immigration raised in the letter, or address the grave consequences we fear its proposals will have for refugee rights in the UK. 

The majority of people in Scotland want a fair and humane asylum system built on compassion, decency, and common sense, so that people have their refugee applications considered quickly, fairly, and efficiently – regardless of how they got to the UK. We will continue to support the work of the Scottish Refugee Council as they challenge the New Plan, and as they call  for the UK Government to engage meaningfully with the devolved governments to ensure that a fair and humane asylum system can be developed that works for all four nations of the UK. 

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