Pictured: Lambeth Councillors celebrate being awarded Borough of Sanctuary status
Cllr Ibtisam Adem represents Knight’s Hill ward and shares a statement in response to the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill
“Lambeth Labour condemns this callous Illegal Migration Bill, which rips up fundamental tenets of international human rights law, and is an all-out assault on migrants’ rights.
This Bill has been brought forward at a time when there are currently no safe routes to the UK for those who seek asylum here, including those with family members in our communities. People who arrive irregularly (and there are no other ways to arrive currently) will never be allowed, under the provisions of this Bill, to access the asylum system.
Instead, they will be left destitute, without the right to work and in legal limbo indefinitely. The Bill would also remove vital protections for children, victims of trafficking and pregnant women, meaning they could all face detention. Locking up children and people who are about to give birth represents a shocking rollback of human rights.
Lambeth is a Borough of Sanctuary and is committed to defending the rights of all our communities to live side by side in dignity, continuing to welcome those who make our borough their home, eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and working with them so that we can all thrive together.
We call on the Home Secretary to withdraw the Bill and commit to resourcing an asylum system that can deliver fair and timely asylum decisions. We also call for an end to the contracts with providers of temporary, often poor quality and unsuitable accommodation for asylum seekers in hotels and hostels.We call on the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, to open discussions now with local authorities about how to resource good-quality, long-term accommodation for all those in need, including asylum seekers, within our communities”
Cllr Ibtisam Adem