Hundreds gather to protest the Tories’ Rwanda plans
- Text by Ben Smoke
- Photography by Aiyush Pachnanda
Last week the government announced plans to offshore asylum claims to Rwanda in a brand new immigration deal. The deal, which was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as Home Secretary Priti Patel was in the Rwandan capital Kigali, would see those who reach the UK via channel crossings taken to a processing centre in Yorkshire before being relocated to Rwanda.
The deal was immediately met with outrage and anger from across the political spectrum. Many have referred to it as cruel and inhumane. The Archbishop of Canterbury has referred to it as “ungodly”. Critics of the plan have pointed out the failed iteration of a similar plan signed by Israel and Rwanda, and the widespread misery, pain and horror caused by Australia’s offshoring scheme (one holding site was forced to shut down following widespread allegations of neglect, mistreatment and human rights abuses).
In protest of the plans, hundreds gathered outside the Home Office last Thursday. The crowd heard speeches from those who work in migrants rights organisations, politicians including Nadia Whittome MP, Labour member for Nottingham East, and those at the sharpest edges of the Hostile Environment. After the finishing of speeches, crowds marched through the streets of Westminster to Downing Street and on to Trafalgar Square.
Photographer Aiyush Pachnanda was there to capture the action.
Sign the petition calling on the government to cancel the Rwanda deal here.
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