Month: October 2026

Politics, Borders and the Human Cost of Refugee Underfunding


Political concerns still a factor in attitudes to immigration and refugees

October 2026

Worldwide, while the number of refugees continues to grow by contrast, the amount of support continues to fall. The UNHCR have a new report Protection Eroded: the Human Cost of Underfunding, which notes how governments are cutting back on their provisions for refugee aid. Between 2024 and 2025, the total amount of aid fell from $5.2 billion to $3.9 billion, and by July of this year only 32% of the allocated funds had been received. Some British political parties are, of course, eager to cut the aid budget even more.

The US government has attacked the UNHCR for its emphasis on protection, inclusion, durable solutions and legal pathways, on the grounds that it facilitates mass migration. In reality 65% of refugees are in states near to their origins, 70% in Lower and Middle Income countries. An article in the Swiss-based New Humanitarian notes that European and North American countries want refugees to stay nearer their bases, but cutbacks have made the problem worse – by making it someone else’s problem, they encourage more movement. They summarise “Refugee protection is not the opposite of border control… calling [legal routes] ‘open borders’ is like accusing a court of acquitting everyone simply because it gives each defendant a hearing.”

Shabana Mahmood

Closer to home, speaking to The Rest is Politics podcast, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “sexual abusers would exploit most asylum seekers as long as traffickers continued to decide who came to the UK”. She said: “We’re not in control of this border. The sifting of the people that end up in the north of France and are about to get on a dinghy is done by criminal gangs who are also, by the way, people traffickers… You can almost guarantee that every woman that’s in the north of France has probably been raped along the journey. Some of the men too, they’ve certainly been abused and threatened. That is not the model that should decide whether somebody gets to come to the UK, make this their place of sanctuary and ultimately become one of us.”

In passing, the recent claim by a whistleblower that only 1 in a 100 claims for asylum are genuine appears to have had little purchase, and has not become a serious contention.

The “one-in-one-out” scheme for boat people between the UK and France has not been renewed; the government considered the numbers involved to be unable to be increased for practical reasons. It has been very costly.

The Home Secretary has established a legal resettlement route for women and girls from Afghanistan and Pakistan with medical needs, but this will only apply to hundreds rather than thousands of refugees. From this month, charities and local community groups can apply to be sponsors or hosts to arrivals, as from next Autumn, according to Mahmood’s speech to the Labour Party conference. The Refugee Council considers the numbers allowed in to be far too small.

For those already here, the new legislation will impose new limits. With the extended time frame for right to remain, it is calculated that in 20 years, the cost has increased from £155 to £3,226. For those receiving temporary support before a decision is made a £10,000 “refugee tax” will effectively be imposed once they are accepted. The UK has the most expensive immigration fees in Europe. It has been suggested that the extended qualifying period may be reduced, as discussions are ongoing.

A group calling itself the Coalition for Asylum Rights and Justice has opposed the planned Independent Immigration Appeals Authority as not independent, less qualified, unfair in not expediting appeals and not improving decision-making. This is still under discussion in the Bill in committee.

At a time of much disturbance centred around asylum seekers accommodation, the Chief Constable of Essex stated that the level of crime in the towns around the Wethersfield holding centre is less than 3 years ago when the site opened.

AH

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Death penalty webinar


Amnesty holds a webinar to discuss aspects of the death penalty

October 2026

Amnesty International does not agree with the use of the death penalty in any circumstances. Even if the individual or individuals have committed horrific crimes, the use of the penalty merely perpetuates violence by the state. There is no evidence that it acts as a deterrent. A major problem is that mistakes cannot be rectified if the individual has been executed. It is costly and in states like the US it costs millions if not billions of dollars keeping people on death row while the appeals process grinds on.

Intimidation

The webinar looked at another aspect which has probably been overlooked, namely its use as a means of intimidation. In countries like China, Saudi and Iran in particular, the penalty – or the threat of its use – is a form of intimidating people into silence. It often goes in parallel with the use of torture, it was said, to obtain the confession needed for executions to take place.

Iran in particular has seen considerable unrest much predating the February war launched on them by the US and Israel. 36 have been executed and a further 78 remain under sentence of death. It is a ‘tool for intensifying fears’. Some of the accusations against those arrested include the ‘waging war against God’ and the absurd ‘corruption on earth’.

In Saudi the numbers are massive with nearly 100 executed by June this year. It was noted there was not a proper court system which are sometimes run by intelligence officers. Torture is normalised. Intimidation is made worse by executions held in public.

Uganda was mentioned with the possibility of executions for homosexuals.

Amnesty is planning a campaign as the 10th is World Day Against the Death Penalty.

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Latest death penalty report


October 2026

We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report for mid September to mid October thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. This month the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee has led to international outrage. After two failed attempts to execute her she was found still to be alive and was rushed to hospital where it is reported she is still alive.

The governor of Florida continues with his drive to execute people making it the record state in the US.

We are pleased to report the release of Jagtar Singh-Johal on bail after being held in prison for 9 years.

As ever we must note that we have no reports from China which is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but where details are a state secret.

Report: Sept – Oct (Word)Download

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Film about protest rights launched


October 2026

Amnesty has just produced this video about the right to protest and the threats to that right by successive governments and home Secretaries.

Video

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Latest vigil


Latest vigil – No 148 – well attended. Green party passes a vote on Zionism

October 2026

Over 30 attended the 148th vigil on what turned out to be a damp evening.

The major news this week was the decision by the Green party at their annual conference to declare Zionism an ‘ethnonationalist project’ which has drawn predictable criticism from Israel. The Israeli foreign ministry said in a post on X on Sunday that the motion “constitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition, as it denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination”.

The chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, described the motion as “poisonous antisemitism” and a “threat to British Jews and to Britain”. However, as we have pointed out previously, not all Jewish people in the UK agree with the rabbi.

It was also reported last week that there has been a rise in Jewish people in the UK feeling ’emotionally attached to Israel’. This follows a longitudinal survey carried out by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research of 2,500 individuals. It has risen 13 points since the start of the Gaza war. There is also a rise in those identifying themselves as Zionist.

A cardboard sign with the text 'UNITED IN PEACE IN OUR COMMON HUMANITY' displayed on a street during a gathering.

Our attention has been drawn to the following two items concerning how children are treated in Israeli prisons. One by Save the Children and the other a video by Al Jazeera. There is a WARNING that the latter contains distressing material.

Photo: courtesy of Peter Gloyns.

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Uyghur campaign


Some members of the group meet for a photo op

October 2026

Throughout August the Salisbury group took part in the national campaign to highlight the plight of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang province in China. We reported on the extreme measures used by the Chinese to repress the culture, language and religion of this population and the imprisonment of around a million as part of a process of ‘re-education’. We also noted the vast programme of forced labour particularly of cotton much of it finding its way its way into high street clothing with seemingly little concern by our retailers.

The group held a brief photo opportunity today to highlight the Uyghurs and to keep them in the public eye.

Group of protesters holding signs advocating for Uyghur rights in front of a historic building, with an Amnesty International banner in the background.

A recent report by Global Rights Compliance suggests we may have been a bit ‘narrow’ in focusing on cotton as the latest 5 year plan for the region in which it is explained:

“The Plan’s overriding priority is to position China at the “forefront of global science and technology”, by eliminating critical technological dependencies and ensuring that its development trajectory cannot be disrupted by external pressure or supply chain coercion.

“This self-reliance shift ultimately relies on material foundations. The success of these goals depends on securing reliable access to raw materials at scale. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) is central: the region holds the majority of China’s beryllium reserves, a material with no substitute in semiconductor manufacturing, and provides the cheap coal-based energy that makes energy-intensive mineral processing”.

This suggests the process of repression will continue because this dominance relies not just on the material itself but its processing. This will also need forced labour to achieve.

There are signs that politicians are beginning to worry about the ‘China threat’ which is on several levels. Our concern is with the rights of a people who are not Han Chinese, who are routinely persecuted and the fruits of their persecution finds its way into products we buy in the West.

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Palantir demonstration


Members of the Salisbury group take part in national demonstration about this firm

October 2026

The public are slowly becoming aware of the firm Palantir and how it is increasingly being used by British institutions. Profound worries are expressed on a number of counts about the use of this firm. They include the security of the information obtained, the degree of control by government over the firm’s actions, the engagement by Palantir in the violent actions of IDF in Gaza and ICE in the US, the deeply unpleasant remarks made by Peter Thiel the owner of the organisation, and how naïve government ministers seem to place contracts of dubious merit and without proper tenders.

Members of the Salisbury group joined others in Southampton on 1st October to protest against the continuing involvement in the NHS in particular. NHS staff are particularly concerned not least because of Peter Thiel’s remarks about their organisation saying […] “the NHS makes people sick“.

Security of the information

The firm has an increasing number of contracts with the police, the MoD and the NHS. Vast quantities of information are garnered and it is claimed that major savings are made to waiting times and operational efficiency. Only they aren’t and the claims are wildly exaggerated. Our concern however is the security of the information and where the data is held. The firm claims that the data is secure but following a struggle, details of the contract were released and the elements dealing with data storage were redacted. We do not know in other words.

Government control

This is an American company and thus outside the control of our government for much of its activity. Since successive governments seem to be in awe of American tech giants the question is, how much control does our government have? Is it able to inspect the storage architecture? Can it know to what use the information is being put by the firm? The UK government has a long, long history of tech disasters and experience shows that those in the Civil Service dealing with these matters have little knowledge.

Palantir’s ‘morals‘

The firm has been more than happy to engage in some unsavoury activities. It provided the IDF with the means to coordinate all its information to enable strikes on alleged Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Although many might argue that Israel was entitled to strike against terrorist threats, the NAZA policy meant entire blocks of flats were bombed to kill one possible terrorist. They are deployed by ICE in its campaign of rounding up illegal immigrants and others.

Peter Thiel

One of the proprietors of Palantir, he is on record having made some unpleasant remarks. He is a supporter in Carl Schmitt who was active between the wars and was seen as a Nazi supporter and a leading light in the party. He is sceptical about democracy. He is of course entitled to his views and several commentators have found it difficult to quite bottom out what they are. However, he is disdainful of government controls. His combination of beliefs make one wonder how safe our information is in his hands.

Government contracts

Technology has such power these days that contracts with companies like Palantir should be subject to rigorous scrutiny and control. The original contract was placed during the Covid pandemic for £1 by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister. The new prime minister Andy Burnham is keen to promote his ‘pro business’ government which raises the question how closely will the activities of this firm be monitored.

The government is desperate to see an improvement in the performance of the NHS and a reduction in the waiting lists. Will they overlook problems of security and rights in its haste to enjoy the supposed benefits offered by this firm? It is reported that Labour may be thinking of ending the NHS part of the contract which they have to do in December.

Middle East Eye reports that a motion, put forward at the party’s conference in Liverpool by the Labour-affiliated Socialist Health Association and at least three constituency parties, urged the government to cancel the £330m ($437m) contract to process NHS data with the controversial tech giant. It said Palantir was “facing numerous allegations of involvement in serious breaches of human rights, including due to it developing technology for Israel’s military to use in its unlawful occupation of Palestinian land and genocide in Gaza”.

The motion said: “The Labour government has a responsibility to uphold public trust in politics, including in the awarding of public contracts, particularly where there are allegations of involvement in grave violations of international law.” The motion was blocked however.

Photos: Salisbury Amnesty

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Execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee fails


Terrifying failure to execute Christa Pike in Tennessee

October 2026

It seems as far as Tennessee is concerned, actually executing someone is more difficult than might be supposed. Christa Pike was on the gurney and the supposedly lethal drugs were injected twice. Forty minutes later, she was heard snoring from behind a screen and was taken to hospital.

There seems no doubt that Christa committed the murder of a fellow 19 year old 30 years ago in 1995. She was sentenced to death at the time. As is common in America, the appeals process can take decades and last right up to the last moment. The latest appeal concerns how she was treated as a child with evidence of rape and sexual abuse.

There followed a tussle between the Tennessee Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court with the latter agreeing the execution could go ahead. Three justices dissented.

USA is the only country in the Americas still to retain the penalty and these events add a further twist to the campaign to end the penalty it including Tennesseans for Alternative to the Death Penalty. Amnesty is opposed to the penalty in all circumstances.

We may amend this post in the light of further developments. The failed execution has led to a storm of protest in the US.

Sources: Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, BBC, Guardian. We were unable to access the Tennessean.

150 Weeks of Salisbury Peace Vigils Marked by Strong Turnout


This milestone vigil well attended October 2026 It almost doesn’t seem possible that a group of people in Salisbury have turned out each Saturday for 150 weeks to stand, sometimes in the cold and rain, to support the principle of peace and justice in the Middle East. Yesterday (17th) there were 40 of us and…

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150th vigil today!


October 2026 Today, 17th October, is the 150th vigil in Salisbury. If you are able to come that would be wonderful. You may wonder why you haven’t heard of this and we are disappointed to report that the Salisbury Journal declined to publish the press notice. We cannot know why. 5 o’clock outside the Library…

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NAZA – the film


NAZA was shown in cinemas around the country October 2026 The film NAZA was shown in cinemas around the country yesterday and following the showing there was an interview with the makers and others involved. NAZA is the word used by the IDF to assess collateral deaths in pursuit of one Hamas operative. It is…

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