Author: welland2

Refugee report


Many of the boat people are from Afghanistan

August 2023

The tragic events in the English Channel this week have served to draw attention to the fact that most of the asylum seekers affected by the disaster were from Afghanistan. This might invite the question: “But I thought that Afghans were the one group for whom official arrangements to come here had been made?” Indeed, there are two official processes by which Afghans can come to this country to escape persecution. One is the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, designed to help those who had been involved with the UK administration pre-Taliban, and several thousand have arrived through this route. Asylum seekers arriving now may have worked with the British and been left behind or not, but clearly most feel threatened by any connection they may have had with the old regime. The Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) was designed for such cases.

So how has the ACRS been performing? A new report by the Refugee Council gives a gloomy assessment. The plan was to take 5,000 refugees in the first year and 20,000 in total. So far, 54 Afghans have arrived under ACRS; many are waiting in Pakistan for arrangements to be made to bring them over. Accommodation in the UK is not available however and, as the report notes, those 9,000 Afghans currently being accommodated in hotels here will be ejected at the end of the month to find their own places or become homeless.

Afghans arriving via the Channel will be sent back

Hence the large number of Afghans arriving on small boats. In the last year 8,429 have come by this route, of whom 96 have been given leave to stay. Of course, under the new Illegal Migration Act, none will be given that right and will in theory be returned to Afghanistan or a third country like Rwanda.

The report goes on to note that no method has been established to help reunite the families of asylum seekers with those who are here, despite assurances  from the government.

The Guardian has published an article by the Council’s chief executive, Enver Solomon, which gives more detail.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this, the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘World at One’ devoted a lengthy package to this item.

AH

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Arms sales and human rights


Campaign Against the Arms Trade highlights UK arms sales to autocratic regimes

August 2023

In the last post discussing the possibility of the UK leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, currently being discussed in government, we commented on a lack of concern about arms sales and the activities of resource companies in destabilising countries. This led to conflict and millions suffering and being displaced, some of whom ended up at Calais much to the ire of politicians and parts of the press.

The latest issue of CAAT News (Issue 266, Summer 2023) puts some flesh on the bones of our (and other country’s) arms sales and where they are being sold. Surprisingly, sales sales by the Soviet Union and China have actually declined and in the case of Russia because of the war in Ukraine which is consuming large amounts of military materiel. Chinese sales have dropped by around a quarter according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) because of possible ‘stockpiling’. By contrast, UK sales doubled in 2022 to around £8.5bn. These facts somewhat dent the argument that if we don’t sell the arms, someone else will. Some sales are identified by Single Individual Export Licences (SIELs) where it is possible to know what and to whom weapons are being sold. The biggest recipient by value is Qatar due in the main to the sale of Typhoon aircraft. However, just over half of arms sales are by ‘open licence’ which allows for unlimited exports.

The dismal state of human rights in Qatar received a degree of publicity during the World Cup. The kafala system of employment is still in place in which migrant workers are tied to their employers. Wage theft is widespread. Women are second class citizens and those under 25 must obtain permission from a male guardian to travel, study or work in government jobs. Women fleeing violent domestic abuse are returned home by the police. Freedom of expression is curtailed. Same sex relationships are a crime.

Similar considerations apply to arms sales to Saudi Arabia another big market for UK arms. These arms have been used in the war in Yemen – currently subject to an uneasy peace – and which has contributed to the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Just about every aspect of human rights misery has been inflicted on the country whether it’s the effects of the war and bombing, disease and starvation, activities of the Houthi rebels including the use of torture. Human rights in Saudi itself are extremely poor with 81 people executed in one day in March 2022. Women have reduced rights, torture and forced confessions are commonplace and freedom of expression is severely curtailed.

CAAT has attempted to halt our activities in aiding the Saudis but sad to report, have lost their case in the Divisional Court hearing in June. The reasoning of the judges is highly questionable and in some instances, hard to credit. The Saudis’ Coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) has frequently failed to investigate alleged incidents of violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Yemen war which has allowed the government to argue that that there was insufficient evidence to accept violations were even possible, despite evidence that there had been from a variety of NGOs.

The government also argued that to pursue allegations would offend the Saudis and expend valuable diplomatic capital. The Saudis’ failure to investigate alleged violations and their sensitivity to criticism was sufficient for the judges to dismiss the case.

Are UK’s ‘rigorous and robust policies’ a sham?

The government is often quoted as saying they have a ‘rigorous and robust’ policy of export controls. The evidence shows otherwise. The UK has grown its sales and is providing arms to a variety of unstable countries and countries run by despots of varying kinds, seemingly with no concern for the welfare and rights of the citizens of those countries. Open licences allow us to export arms to Turkey for example where the government has for years carried on a war of brutal repression against the Kurdish minority including the targeting of civilians. The US Congress is reluctant to allow sales of F-16 fighters because of Turkey’s frequent violations of Greece’s airspace, its repressive policies and president Erdoğan’s refusal to allow Sweden to join NATO. No such considerations apply to the UK which in addition to a massive SIEL of £452m, has granted an unlimited number of open licences.

It seems as though there is little connection now between morality or human rights with the desire to support and turn a blind eye to the sale of weapons to whomsoever asks for them. Appeals to the judiciary end in failure with judges only too willing to swallow government arguments of the most specious kind. The UK’s desire to allow and support arms sales is a blot on the country’s reputation.

Sources: mostly CAAT. Amnesty and HRW

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Exiting the European Court possible


Some Conservative politicians again calling for the UK to exit the European Court

August 2023

The issue of the small boat crossings continues to generate considerable passions amongst many in the Conservative party in particular and in sections of the media. This week, the first of the asylum seekers arrived on the barge, Bibby Stockholm, moored at Portland with many local protests, concerns about fire safety and legal protests in train. The response to the protests and appeals from the deputy chair of the Conservative party, Lee Anderson, broke new ground when he said that if they weren’t happy with the accommodation they should ‘f–k off back to France.’ When interviewed on GB News he declined to withdraw the remark and he has received support from others in the party.

Part of the frustration that some feel is possibly based on the misunderstanding about the Court and its relationship with Europe. Brexit was largely based on a desire to regain our sovereignty and the fact that the Court has nothing to do with the EU has come as a surprise and disappointment to those who believed it did. When the Court stepped in to stop the first flight to Rwanda a year ago from Boscombe Down airfield (a mile or so away from where this is being written) it generated considerable fury and with it the threat to leave the aegis of the Court.

If we did leave the Court, we would join Belarus and Russia, hardly exemplars of sound government or decent human rights. It would, as one of the key proponents of the Court in the ’50s, be a great blow to our international standing. There are many in the Conservative party who recognise this.

In many respects, the problem of Channel crossings is as a result of successful policies elsewhere to prevent other forms of crossing. Channel ports are now surrounded with razor wire and boarding and aeroplane is now a major exercise in logistics and checking of details. Legal routes barely exist and the ability of someone to claim asylum in their own country is all but impossible. Getting on a boat is almost the only way.

The ECHR is a threat to British democracy

Daily Telegraph, 10 August

In previous posts we have commented on many aspects of the government’s policy and how exporting people to Rwanda – tried and abandoned by Israel – will be of limited utility. Hundreds will be deported, if it comes into being, while the backlog is in the tens of thousands. Ascension Island is also being rumoured: another expensive and impractical solution.

On 18 July, the government passed the Illegal Migration Bill which means those who arrive by crossing the Channel will not be able to claim asylum. This is likely to be a breach of the Refugee Convention, hence the call to exit the ECHR.

Such is the desire of those to escape war or persecution that threats to send them to Rwanda or place them on a barge off the south coast are unlikely to be a deterrent. The continued failure to stem the flow of crossings represents a major political problem for the government. Oafish comments by the party’s deputy chair are in a way a symptom of the frustration felt in the face of this huge, and in many respects insoluble problem.

It is a pity that the connections between causes and results is not discussed more. The coup in Niger is the latest example of a desire to grab mineral resources. Western countries along with China and Russia, are desperate to secure supplies of these resources and the rights of people who get in the way are nearly always ignored. We are happy for the City of London for example to fund companies and to enable the vast wealth to be routed through the city. We pay little attention to the ‘front end’ so to speak and the activities of corporations in their thirst for rare earths, oil, gold, uranium or other commodities. The resulting conflicts and displacement of peoples, some of whom end up on the northern coast of France, suddenly results in angst and furious editorials in our tabloids. A man reaps what he sows as the Bible tells us. Perhaps if government spent more time concerning itself with the activities of our mining and resource companies then fewer would be forced from their homes and land, dispossessed or otherwise maltreated and fewer would end up at Calais and thence onto a boat. Fewer then would need to f–k of back to France.

UPDATE: 12 August 2023. Migrants taken off the barge because of the risk of Legionnaires disease (11th). Ascension Island no longer an option it is reported.

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Death penalty report


August 2023

We are pleased to attach the mid July – August death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for preparing it. It contains some good news about Ghana which has all but abolished use of the penalty and also Texas which is showing a much reduced use. By contrast Singapore has executed two people for drugs offences. We had occasion to mention Singapore in our previous post about Burma for their role in providing the military junta with weapons and other materiel. As ever, China is not mentioned because statistics about the huge numbers they execute are a state secret.

Report: July/Aug (Word)Download
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Burma


Problems in Burma get overlooked because of events elsewhere in the world

August 2023

Burma crops up from time time in the news and this week (w/c 31 July) the partial release of Aung San Suu Kyi into house arrest briefly made it into news bulletins. These notes are taken mainly from Issue 44 of Burma Campaign News published by the Burma Campaign. The country remains subject to some of the worst treatment of people in the world with multiple examples of human rights infringements. Following a massive defeat of the military in elections in 2020, after half a century of control, they staged a coup the day after the newly elected government was due to take office and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi.

The effects of military control have been atrocious. Nearly 2 million have had to flee their homes. There are around 2000 political prisoners. The treatment of the Rohingya amounts to genocide. The military have been able to retain control because they can still acquire arms mostly from the Russian Federation but also from China, Singapore with smaller amounts from India and Thailand. The total amounts to around $1bn according to a UN report.

The Burma campaign has identified a ‘Dirty List’ of suppliers and have recently added 5 insurers who provide vital insurance cover without which the junta would not be able to acquire aviation fuel. They name the companies as UK P&I; Steamship Mutual; Britannia P&I and North Standard and Shipowners Club. The role of these companies was exposed by Amnesty in a report ‘Deadly Cargo‘. The UK government has so far failed to impose sanctions preventing British companies supplying aviation fuel.

While the situation in Burma is dire, the supply of arms and materiel from western countries is thought to have largely stopped according to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. A major jewellery company has stopped sourcing rubies from the country. There have been two debates in the House of Commons and one in the House of Lords.

Little can be done to alter the situation especially while China, Russia and Singapore – the major conduit for arms – continue to supply the junta and enable them to stay in power. Singapore claims it has a policy to prohibit the transfer of arms to Myanmar, however, the UN report uncovered $253m of supplies shipped to the military between February 2021 and December 2023.

Cyclone Mocha hit the country in May and the military blocked aid to the Rohingya who were particularly badly hit as part of its genocidal policies towards them. An unknown number of people have died and many have lost homes, livestock and fields have been destroyed.

Attention on the country has often focused on Aung San Suu Kyi who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and was admired in the West for her heroic stand against the generals. Her reputation suffered a precipitate slide during the Rohingya crisis where she seemed unwilling to condemn the military actions and even seemed to support them at the Hague. She was perhaps endowed with qualities which were unreal and her failure to condemn the brutality against a minority population was a truer indication of who she was. The decline in her heroic status is possibly a reason why attention has shifted away from the country and the continuing activities of the military.

An infographic can be accessed here.

Sources: UN, Burma Campaign, HRW, CAAT, Amnesty International, BBC

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Death penalty – YouTube


YouTube video on the current state of the death penalty

August 2023

This is a link to a video on progress around the world concerning the death penalty. Produced by Amnesty but sent to us by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Regrettably the delivery will be too fast for some viewers.

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A change in the political climate for human rights


The post war human rights ideology is arguably now over and there is a need for new thinking

July 2023

The post war settlement and the introduction of a ‘rules based order’ for international affairs is arguably now in terminal decline. The creation of the United Nations and the introduction of the Universal Declaration seemed to usher in – many thought – a new way that governments would deal with each other and settle disputes through negotiation. The carnage of the Second World War in which millions of lives were lost was supposed to be a cathartic moment in world history, an event no one wanted to see repeated. Respect for human rights would be a core feature of how people lived around the world.

Recent history casts doubt on this idea and the rise of countries such as China, a post Stalinist Russia and the wealth of Saudi Arabia are beginning to show that the comforting idea of the rules based order is under considerable threat. More and more countries are showing that they can exist quite happily in the world by ignoring nearly all considerations of human rights and a democratic norms. China’s treatment of its Uighur minority has received wide coverage with nearly a million people being subject to so-called ‘re-education’ in an attempt to mould an entire population away from its beliefs and culture. They have almost eliminated any semblance of a free democracy in Hong Kong. Myanmar has brutalised its Rohingya minority forcing huge numbers out of the country. The treatment of Palestinians in Israel and the creation of what is effectively an apartheid state, shows that even a country with a powerful democratic system can behave badly towards those they wish to marginalise. We could quote other examples including Türkiye, Syria, Libya and more recently, Tunisia where in their different ways, human rights and the treatment of its citizens are a long way from the intentions of the Universal Declaration.

Sportswashing

We have discussed sportswashing in several previous posts and in particular, Saudi Arabia with its funding of Newcastle United football club for example, and hosting a Grand Prix, tennis and golf tournaments and other sporting investments. Since early 2021, they have invested at least £4.9bn ($6.3bn) in various sporting events and are currently seeking to purchase the footballer Kylian Mbappé from Paris St Germain for a reported €300m. For them it buys kudos. The sums are so large that a significant number of sports stars are willing to overlook any considerations of human rights and sign up for the various lucrative deals on offer. The extent of their denial of rights can be seen in a report by grant Liberty.

Commercial activity

It would be unfair to heap blame on sports stars alone. After a brief lull following the murder and dismemberment of Adnan Khashoggi, western firms are all too willing to get involved in the many deals and contracts on offer from the kingdom. Even architectural practices are lured to the many contracts of offer as part of the massive half a trillion dollar Neom development being proposed in south west Saudi. We have been happy to supply Saudi with a variety of weapons and personnel to enable it to carry on its war in Yemen creating what, according to the UN, is the worst humanitarian disaster in modern history. In addition to football clubs, the Saudi investment fund is being eagerly welcomed to Teesside.

The significance of the change has not really been taken on board. Saudi’s enormous wealth, China burgeoning power and the increasing post-colonial confidence of countries like South Africa, means there has been a shift away from the ‘Washington consensus’. Human rights have little if any role to play in most of the Gulf states. Opposition is banned, torture is widely practised, human rights activists harassed or arrested and media tightly controlled. A similar story exists in China which operates as a one party state and where human rights norms are largely ignored.

Countries like the UK seem almost to have given up on any pretence that human rights form part of their decision making and in our relations with these countries. In a sense, it is part of our national decline particularly economically. In a word, we can no longer afford to pick and choose. If we want investment in our country, especially in less popular areas (economically speaking) then if a country like Saudi has the money then so be it. If we want sell arms then we must hold our noses and sell to more or less anyone who needs them. Noises are made about export controls and end user certificates, but the pressure is to steer round them not to use them as a force to limit their sale. The recent loss of the court case concerning arms sales to Yemen is a case in point. It is not just the government’s failure to properly consider human rights issues and the terrible effects of bombing in Yemen, but the judges seemed also to push reason to one side in their judgement.

Post war consensus

Post war and in the half century or so which followed, was a period of hope and a belief that human rights could be encouraged around the world. It was not all plain sailing and it took a long time for oppressive states like East Germany to collapse along with other east European states to gain freedom from the Soviet Union. Many countries achieved independence from the colonial powers, France and the UK principally. The UN and its various agencies was able to pursue policies and programmes of benefit to millions of people, tackling polio for example.

In recent times, the leadership of US is coming under strain. Internally, it is struggling with the very concept of democracy. European states are far from united and although there has been some unity in the response to the invasion of Ukraine, they seem far from making the weather as far as human rights and the rule of law are concerned.

What is interesting about sport is the lack of conscience or morality among a significant number of sporting people. If the money is sufficient, they accept the gig, with seemingly no compunction. That women are treated as second class citizens, executions are carried on at an horrific rate, sometimes in public, torture is routine and LGBTQ people are punished or imprisoned, seems not to trouble them. The question is whether this reflects the zeitgeist of the population at large? Are people no longer interested in human rights considerations in our sporting and commercial actions? Have we reached a point in our history where we no longer believe in things which were always said to be a key part of the British character: decency, fair play and respect for the underdog? It would seem so. If the public is more concerned with entertainment and the success or otherwise of their team or sporting hero, who can blame the sportsmen and women taking the millions of riyals on offer?

There does need to be a rethink of our approach to human rights. The belief in largely state led approaches, through treaties, declarations, legal actions and the like, is no longer sustainable especially if the states concerned are more concerned with economic pressures than with the rights of people often far away. The centre of gravity has to a large degree shifted away from the West to countries like China, the Gulf states, Russia and non-aligned countries like Brazil. Some of these countries have a different concept of rights and see Western countries only too willing to turn a blind eye if contracts and sufficient money is on offer. It would seem a little foolish to continue pursuing the post-war ideology in a world which has substantially moved away from those ideas.

Sources include: Amnesty International; New Statesman; Guardian; CAAT, Grant Liberty

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Good news!


We are pleased to report some good news about the death penalty

July 2023

It is not often we get to report good news about this topic but two countries, Ghana and USA provide a small piece of light to give encouragement. Usually, we are posting to send sad news about the death penalty but – for once at least – we have some good news to share.

First, and foremost, last night the death penalty was abolished in Ghana.  170 men and 6 women on death row will have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

In the US, there are signs of hope:

  • In Texas the Jury has sentenced Ronald Anthony Burgos, a former Border Patrol Agent convicted of a double murder, to life imprisonment rather than the death penalty.  Texas is the State that over the years has imposed the highest number of death sentences, but the numbers are declining – suggesting a change in attitude to its use may be taking place
  • In Florida a Circuit Judge has ruled the new law allowing a majority rather than a unanimous vote for the death penalty cannot be applied retroactively.
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What rights in India?


Western countries ignoring human rights to curry favour with India

July 2023

The recent shocking video of the appalling treatment of two women in Manipur in which they were stripped naked by a mob, groped and possibly gang raped, has shocked the world and forced Narendra Modi to make a statement and take some action. The incident took place in May yet no investigation took place and no arrests made. At the time, Narendra Modi made no comment. Nor was this some kind of isolated incident. The violence by the Hindu Meiki majority on the Christian Kuki minority has involved thousands fleeing their homes, and has been continuing for some considerable time.

Prime Minister Modi has form in this kind of situation. His role in the massacre of thousands of Muslims in 2002 in Gujarat State is well known. The government has a poor human rights record on a number of fronts. All sorts of groups are either banned, closed down or subject to terrorist laws to stifle dissent. Amnesty International has been banned and the BBC offices closed down. Religious organisations have been subject to crackdowns. The country is now 161st of 180 in the press freedom index.

But such is the size of India that it has a high role to play especially as some kind of counterweight to China. Hence Modi being feted in Washington, Paris and London. The desire to sell arms and in the UK’s case, a desperate desire to obtain a post-Brexit trade agreement, that questions about multiple human rights abuses are quietly brushed aside. In Washington, according to the New York Times, one – only one – journalist was allowed to ask Modi a question on democracy in India and apparently, he expressed surprise that the question was asked at all. He is reported to have replied that ‘Democracy runs in our veins. We live democracy and there’s absolutely no discrimination’.

The red carpet was also put out for him in Paris and he was also awarded France’s highest honour the Legion d’Honneur.

The treatment of Modi, the fawning attention and red carpet receptions are part of a trend where the desire for contracts, oil, or the sale of arms, takes precedence over any consideration of human rights. He receives favourable and uncritical coverage by the media in India: not surprising since those critical of him are locked up or otherwise silenced. At least no one uses the phrase the ‘World’s largest democracy’ anymore.

Quite apart from human rights considerations, one has to question the political value of all this fawning treatment. Modi is happily buying oil from Russia in defiance of the embargo. If things get serious with China – over Taiwan for example – does anyone seriously think that he will lift a finger to help? China already occupies many thousands of square miles of Indian territory in the Himalayas and India is powerless to do anything about it. As tensions with China increase, we can expect more and more issues of this nature by Western countries trying to build alliances against its ever increasing power. It will be a matter of sadness however that many of these countries are dictatorships or autocracies with atrocious human rights records. This is simply overlooked in the rush to build such alliances.

UPDATE: 22 July. It is reported 4 arrests have now been made.

Sources: New York Times, Hindustan Times, Amnesty International.

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July minutes


Minutes of the July Group meeting

July 2023

We are pleased to attach minutes of the meeting held in July 2023 thanks to group member Lesley for producing them. As well as giving details of our activities past and future, it has items of more general interest for example, progress with government bills which will have an impact on human rights, a report on the refugee situation and a report on the death penalty around the world.

July minutes (Word)Download
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