This month has been overshadowed by arguments around flags. Leaving aside the question of accommodation for asylum seekers, I wanted to provide a summary of the worldwide situation.
123 million refugees worldwide
At the end of 2024 there were estimated to be 123.2 million “refugees”, of whom 42.7 million have refugee status, 73.5 million are internally displaced within their own country and 8.4 million are seeking asylum. (4.4 million are officially stateless). That amounts to 1 in 67 of the world’s population in flight. The largest numbers by country were from Syria (see more below) 13 million, Sudan 12 million, and Ukraine 10 million. Interestingly, the numbers returning home during the year were 20,000 Syrians, 73,000 Ukrainians but only 3,700 Sudanese (hardly surprising). Of 8 million Congolese in exile, only 122 returned home during the year.
On the return question, the UK’s deal to return one for one asylum seekers to France has started and the UK government is seeking a similar arrangement with Germany. Since the aim is to reduce the backlog of pending applications, it is worth noting that the appeals backlog is currently around 70,000 (90,000 last year). The main reason for the failure to reduce the numbers dramatically is the decline in the acceptance rate. Whereas in 2023/4, 58% of applications were accepted in 2024/5 this was down to 48%, resulting in more appeals and more processing time. Also the quality of the assessments has been criticised as leading to more overturning of decisions. Among Afghan asylum seekers 96% were granted leave last year and only 40% this year (though only 8 families were actually returned in 2024/5). This pattern is general – of 96,910 refusals between 2020 and 2024, only 24,508 people were actually returned.
New Home Secretary
With a new Home Secretary we must expect more legislation on small boats. The number of people crossing this year is, of course, up on last year’s figure by 27%, mostly due to prolonged fine weather.
The reshuffle has meant that Home Office ministers Angela Eagle and Seema Malhotra have been moved to other departments, signalling probable change in policy under the new minister.
Section 80B of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 has been amended to take account of Brexit and the lapse of the old Dublin rules about seeking asylum in the first safe country arrived at. The rules on “inadmissibility” have been tightened to make it possible for any perceived connection to a third county grounds for deporting applicants to that (“safe”) country.
Still in the UK, the previous Home Secretary temporarily suspended applications for family reunion. It remains to be seen if the right will be restored.
The Council of Europe has issued a report warning member countries against outsourcing application processing to third countries.
The MOD has admitted 49 data breaches in the handling of Afghan applications; this will have a very damaging effect on giving information about Afghans who served the pro-Western government to the current leadership. Following the leak, the then government set up the Afghanistan Response Route secretly to aid 7,000 Afghans to come here. It was ended in June without any detail of its success or otherwise.
Outside of Europe the USA has now done deals to deport “illegal” immigrants to Rwanda, South Sudan, Eswatini and Uganda. The latter country has 2 million refugees from the DRC within its borders. President Trump has suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program – President Biden set it up with a cap on the number of arrivals of 125,000. Trump has decided on allowing 40,000 immigrants, of whom he wants 30,000 to be Afrikaners from South Africa.
…But finally, some good news. Following the overthrow of Assad, the UNHCR report that 2 million Syrians have returned home, 600,000 of them from abroad.
Analysis of the voting record of the three Members of Parliament in the Salisbury area
August 2025
Salisbury has three MPs whose constituents live in the Salisbury area and it is timely to ask how they have performed in Parliament concerning the conflict in Gaza. We compare this with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia which is broadly taking place at the same time.
Although there is no job description for an MP, a key role is to represent their constituents in parliament and to the government of the day. Their constituents will have a plurality of views so straightforward representation is almost certainly impossible. A further problem is to ask who are they representing? This refers to the many lobby groups and organisations who spend millions on their activities trying to persuade MPs to their views and ideas. A key one relevant to this post is the role of the Conservative Friends of Israel thought to be the largest lobby group in parliament and with around a third of a million pounds, very well funded. The MP for Salisbury, appears to be a member of this group.
Methodology
We looked at the website They Work for You and used the following search terms [Gaza] [Israel] [Palestine] and for comparison [Ukraine]. All were accessed on 25 August 2025. We also did a search using Startpage (a search engine) using the same terms. We also referred to the website MP War Crimes. This site has analysed a wide range of sources and has concluded that all three MPs are ‘anti-Palestine’.
Results
John Glen (Salisbury).
Only three interventions none of them concerned about the violence. One asking about the refusal of Israeli authorities to allow MPs to enter the area. A question with a focus on Christians in the area and access to Christian holy sites such as the Mount of Olives and Bethlehem. Recently, he complained about an alleged statement by a Irish Republican at Glastonbury saying ‘the only good Tory is a dead Tory’ and ‘Up Hamas!’ and ‘Up Hezbollah!’.
On Ukraine by contrast he made over 30 interventions going back to June 2018.
Danny Kruger (East Wiltshire which comes down to the boundary of the City)
One. On the 29 October 2024 he asked a lengthy question making a collection of doubtful statements concerning Unwra and Hamas. This included the allegation that Hamas was ‘hiding their soldiers in hospitals’ and that they were ‘deeply integrated into Unwra’. Israel has never provided evidence of the former and on the latter, UN investigation showed that 7 operatives out of its thousands of staff might have been involved in the October massacre. This is the only one we could find and the intervention showed strong evidence of Kruger accepting Israeli claims without caveats.
On Ukraine he has made nine interventions.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) south of the City
The only one who seems to have asked any questions and ten which we could find with a strong emphasis on West Bank violence. Like Mr Glen, there is a focus on Anglicans some of whom were taken by IDF soldiers from an Anglican hospital and whose whereabouts are unknown. He made a number of interventions about the West Bank prior to October 7th and it seems to be a continuing interest of his on this subject. Only a small number about Gaza however.
On Ukraine, he made a similar number of interventions – ten – going back to 29 June 2016.
Conclusions
The only local MP who exhibits some kind of balance is Sir Desmond Swayne who has asked a series of questions and made speeches on a range of issues both about Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine. The same cannot be said for either John Glen or Danny Kruger. Indeed, historians in years to come, going through Hansard reading their speeches and questions, would wonder if Gaza or violence on the West Bank had ever occurred. Like reading a Jane Austen novel where you are unaware Britain was at war. Both seem to have a focus on the plight of Christians which is a proper concern and one that is often forgotten in Western media. But wider concerns about other faiths does not seem to be on their radar. As we have reported elsewhere on this site, people in and around Salisbury have now mounted 90 vigils in Salisbury, not one of which Mr Glen has ever attended or referred to in his weekly column in the local paper. He has been voluble on Ukraine but almost silent on Gaza.
We conclude that neither MP is representing, on this evidence, the views of a large number of their Constituents. It is possible that Mr Glen’s membership of Conservative Friends of Israel maybe a contributing factor. None are in government at present. It is important from a human rights perspective because there is mounting evidence of genocide and the use of starvation is a war crime. The known death toll is 62,000.
Proposed elections are a sham. Sanctions are patchy and ineffective
August 2025
Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza: what links these current conflicts where thousands of women, children and the elderly die or have their homes destroyed? All are conflicts where the warring parties are equipped and supported by outside countries many of which are on the UN Security Council. Myanmar is armed and supported by Russia and China together with India and Austria with Singapore often acting as the go-between. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is supported by China, Sudan by the UAE and Israel’s genocidal actions by America principally with other western countres in the frame including the UK.
It is unlikely these conflicts would be as deadly or last as long if it was not for this outside influence and support. The support takes different forms. The straightforward supply of weapons and military materiel. Providing the financial pathways to enable the regimes to engage in trade and pay for the weapons. Allowing western countries to trade with the regimes and buy their exports. And frustrating efforts by the UN to broker peace efforts or reign in the activities of the outside countries. The Security Council supporters of the regimes frustrate these efforts by vetoing motions and allow the carnage to continue. The noble aims of the post war era when the UN was formed and there was meant to be a new world order is in tatters.
The latest edition of Burma Campaign News (Edition 48) is to hand and contains updates on the long running conflict in that country with 50,000 dead in the last four years. The country has slipped out of the news due largely to conflicts close to home and the difficulty and danger of reporting from there. After six decades of conflict, killings and attacks on minorities, the only good news is that the military is not having it all their own way. A combination of resistance, strikes, and economic boycotts, the military is slowly losing ground. The bombing of schools, hospitals and homes continues with around 5 million forced to flee. Elections are planned which will be a sham.
Many countries, including the UK, impose sanctions on the country. Unfortunately, as Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) points out in a report, these sanctions are not coordinated. This means there are gaps and what is sanctioned by one country may not be by another.
“There were 165 distinct entities sanctioned by the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom in response to the military coup in 2021.69 The report concluded that while the US, EU, and UK state that they are coordinating sanctions, there are significant missed opportunities to implement sanctions regimes in a coordinated manner. The report stressed that as of 1 February 2023, a mere 13 percent of the 165 entities were targeted by all three sanctions regimes, 20 percent by two, and 67 percent by only one. The report concluded that the gaps in the existing sanctions regime make it easier for the Myanmar military to evade sanctions. The report also noted that Member States seem reluctant to sanction high-impact targets such as Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which is sanctioned only by European Union, and aviation fuel, for which Canada has imposed wide ranging sanctions as of March 2023 and the UK has imposed targeted sanctions. 110. While these sanctions have been welcomed by the National Unity Government, Myanmar civil society, and international NGOs, they primarily regulate the engagement of persons under the jurisdiction of the Member State.70 As such, in the absence of economic sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, third country actors are not legally prohibited from doing business with the sanctioned regime, person, or organization”. (Para 109)
A key source of revenue for the regime is the telecoms company Mytel described as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Burmese military and is highly profitable. The US sanctioned the company in January this year ‘for providing surveillance services and financial support to Burma’s military regime, enabling the regime to carry out human rights abuses through the tracking and identification of target individuals and groups’. The UK by contrast has not sanctioned them. Burma Campaign suggests contacting the Foreign Secretary asking for sanctions to be imposed: action.burmacampaign.org.uk/tell-british-government-sanction-mytel where there is a link.
A BBC report features the role of global arms firms in Burma.
Having written about our vigils in many of our posts, it is becoming hard to find fresh words for the continuing horror of what is happening in Gaza. Israel’s actions have gone way beyond what is to be expected from a nation that likes to think of itself as a beacon of civilisation in a turbulent region. Their actions have been well documented and the nightly vision on our screens of death, destruction and now starvation is becoming unbearable. The flagrant murder of journalists is added to the list of crimes. Israel refuses to allow western journalists in for obvious reasons of course: you do not want foreign eyes and lenses on the killing and maiming of children and the elderly.
“No such thing as Palestinians because there’s no such thing as the Palestinian people” Bezalel Smotrich, Paris 2021
And it shows no sign of ending. The IDF has been ordered to extend the war and to conquer Gaza City for which plans are being prepared. One can only imagine the death toll. 61,000 will seem a distant memory once it gets underway.
Destruction of medical facilities
A key aspect of the attacks has been to destroy the medical facilities. Medical staff are having to perform serious operations without medical supplies because of the blockade. A consultant surgeon who has returned from Gaza in the Nasser hospital is quoted in this fortnight’s Private Eye (No: 1655):
‘What I have witnessed appear to me to be multiple war crimes, including the systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system. Not only have hospitals been bombed, but soldiers from the IDF have gone into hospitals, killed healthcare personnel and and destroyed the infrastructure. Each individual dialysis machine has been destroyed, along with laboratories, scanners, water tanks, gas supplies and sewage systems rendering the hospitals entirely disabled. More than 1,500 healthcare workers have been killed, and more than 500 abducted and detained illegally in Israeli prisons with daily torture and many dying under torture – many of them friends of mine.’ He goes on to describe the nature of injuries and how they cluster in different parts of the bodies of victims on different days. The tired story of hospitals being command centres is not supported by any evidence. […]
What is noticeable in his and other’s testimony is the seizing of medical staff who are detained, tortured and not allowed legal representation. They have not been charged or brought before a court. Their whereabouts are unknown. Considerable notice is given to the Israel hostages (rightly so) almost nothing is ever said about the Palestinian hostages because that effectively is what they are. It is just one part of the misinformation put out by the Israelis and seemingly swallowed whole by the western media.
Vigil number 89
The 89th vigil took place in Salisbury as usual on Saturday 16th August, and we had over 50 attend. What was encouraging was the presence of new people some of whom had brought their own signs. The vigils show no sign of abating and with each day of terrible news and appalling footage smuggled out of Gaza sometimes by journalists who risk death by the IDF. No sign still of the local MP Mr John Glen nor any mention of his constituents taking part in these vigils in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal. Mr Glen is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel organisation.
Elsewhere in Private Eye is news of Israeli exports of fruit and vegetables to the UK which have increased from £29.1m in the last 3 months of last year to £51.3m in the first 3 months of 2025. So while people in Gaza starve, we can enjoy Israeli produce on our shelves.
Report shows that threats to various rights exist in this country
July 2025
We tend to think of threats to human rights exist elsewhere than in the UK. As this report shows, there are threats to freedom of speech and the right to protest in the UK. There are also issues of poverty which have a dramatic effect on people’s wellbeing. We are grateful for group member Fiona for the work put in to produce this report.
Abortion Law Reform
In an amendment to the government’s crime and policing bill, parliament voted to change the criminal laws that govern abortion in England and Wales so that women procuring a termination outside the legal framework cannot be prosecuted.
The framework of access to an abortion – including the need for two doctors’ signatures, and the time limits at which terminations can be carried out – will remain the same and doctors who act outside the law will still face the threat of prosecution. But women who terminate their pregnancy outside the rules, for example after the time limit or by buying pills online, will no longer face arrest or prison. The offence of inducing a miscarriage carries a maximum sentence of life. The amendment came after growing calls for a change in the law as the number of women investigated, arrested or prosecuted has increased in recent years.
Freedom to Protest
In June the government decided not to continue their appeal against the High Court Judgement brought by campaign charity Liberty, which disallowed the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s definition of ‘serious disruption’ as ‘more than minor’ disruption in relation to the policing of protests. This means that Liberty’s original High Court challenge is now legally accepted and the draconian anti-protest laws are now void. Liberty is now demanding a government review of dozens of wrongful arrests and convictions of peaceful protesters that are now invalid.
ECHR Reform
Britain is determined to protect the European Convention on Human Rights claimed the justice secretary but will pursue reform of the ECHR both at home and in Strasbourg. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said ‘The European convention on human rights is one of the great achievements of post-war politics. It has endured because it has evolved and must do so again.’
She will undertake an examination of how the courts were applying the right to freedom from degrading treatment. Change could come in the form of guidance to courts, or even legislation. The move is seen as a defence against right-wing populism. Concern focuses on Article 3, freedom from torture and other degrading treatment, and Article 8, the right to a family life, recently raised in an ITV documentary about the case of two criminals avoiding deportation because of overcrowded conditions in Brazilian jails.
Assisted Dying
Terminally ill people are to be given the right to an assisted death in a historic societal shift that will transform end-of-life care in England and Wales. After months of argument, MPs narrowly voted in favour of a private member’s bill introduced by Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, which could become law within four years.
The emotional debate in parliament was dominated by pleas from opponents of the bill for stricter safeguards against coercion by abusers, concern from disabled people and warnings about the fundamental change in the power of the state when granted new rights over life and death. The prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, voted in favour of the bill, and MPs were given a free vote. The House of Lords is not expected to block its progress, though opponents said they would continue to fight the bill there. Royal assent is widely expected by the end of the year. It will give people in England and Wales with less than six months to live the right to an assisted death after approval from two doctors and a panel including a psychiatrist, social worker and senior lawyer.
Note: Amnesty does not have a position on assisted dying. it arose because it concerned the manner of the decision and people’s right to chose.
Campus Protests Guidance
Universities in England will no longer be able to enforce blanket bans on student protests under sweeping new guidance from the Office for Students that urges a “very strong” approach to permitting lawful speech on campus.
The detailed regulations set out for the first time how universities should deal with inflammatory disputes, such as those between the University of Cambridge and students over the war in Gaza, and rows over academics who hold controversial but legal opinions, such as the gender-critical professor Kathleen Stock.
The guidance issued by the OfS will make it harder for universities to penalise students and staff for anything other than unlawful speech or harassment. But experts said the guidance failed to address the complexity of balancing free speech with activities that have “chilling effects” on students or staff. Universities are advised not to apply prolonged bans on protest encampments involving the Israel-Gaza conflict such as were used by Cambridge University earlier this year but are encouraged to block demonstrations that are “frequent, vociferous and intrusive” if they intimidate Jewish students. The guidance also says: academics should not be pressed to support particular views; protests should not be restricted for supporting legal viewpoints; students or staff should not be “encouraged to report others” for lawful speech; universities must “secure freedom of speech” for visiting speakers.
Activism group proscribed
The Home Secretary has determined to proscribe the activist group Palestine Action after their spray painting of two RAF spotter planes in Brize Norton used for surveillance in Gaza. Ministers claim they are used solely to search for hostages but critics claim that any information sharing with Israeli security could lead to the torture of Palestinians. The protest group has now been designated a terrorist organisation.
While sharing information from Netpol.org or Amnesty International about, for example, the legal analysis of the proscription, is not an offence, actively expressing support for Palestine Action, such as through chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles associated with the group, is an offence according to the Metropolitan Police.
Post Office Horizon Scandal
The first findings from the public inquiry into what has been labelled the worst miscarriage of justice in UK history reveals that more than 13 people may have killed themselves while at least 59 were driven to contemplate suicide. Sir Wyn Williams, the retired judge who chaired the hearings, looks at the “disastrous human impact” on the more than 1,000 post office operators wrongly accused of taking money from their branches because faulty software showed a shortfall.
It also covers the issue of compensation to those seeking financial redress, who now number at least 10,000.
Speaking after the report was published, Williams said evidence had revealed a “profoundly disturbing” picture. About 1,000 post office operators were prosecuted and convicted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015, the report said, because of faulty Horizon accounting software that suggested they had committed fraud. A further 50 to 60 people, possibly more, were prosecuted but not convicted. At least 3000 cases are still to resolve.
State Broadcaster Impartiality Challenged
Critics have claimed that the BBC’s continuing news coverage of the Gaza situation has shown bias in, for example. failing to mention the role played by the RAF in surveillance of the area. The BBC also decided to pull the film Gaza: Doctors Under Attack which, when subsequently broadcast by Channel 4, exposed a pattern of deliberate destruction of medical facilities and arrest, detention and torture of medics in Gaza. Since Israel and the IDF was given every opportunity to rebut the claims made in the film, critics say it is difficult to see any reason why the BBC could not have shown it.
Trial by Jury
Thousands of defendants in England and Wales could lose the right to a jury trial under plans designed to save the criminal justice system from collapse, with 77,000 cases pending in crown courts.
Former judge Sir Brian Leveson, asked by the government to come up with proposals to tackle a record courts backlog, said he had been forced to make recommendations he did not “rejoice in”. Historically, only defendants facing minor offences in a magistrates court have been denied the right to a jury trial, which has long been synonymous in England and Wales with the right to a fair trial. But if Leveson’s recommendations are implemented the right could be removed for offences such as sexual assault, racially or religiously aggravated strangulation, harassment and child abduction.
Recommendations in the report include: the creation of a new division of the crown court in which a judge and two magistrates hear “either way” offences (those in which the defendant can currently choose to be heard by either a magistrate or a jury in the crown court); removing the right to be tried in the crown court for offences that carry a maximum sentence of no more than two years; reclassifying some either way offences so they can be tried only in a magistrates court; trial by judge alone for serious and complex fraud cases; the right for all crown court defendants to elect to be tried by a judge alone.
Welfare Bill
The second reading of the government’s welfare bill has passed its first Commons test only after a central element – changes to personal independence payments – was removed on Tuesday. The bill passed with an unprecedented 49 Labour MP’s rebelling. The restriction of access to PIP was felt to unduly penalise vulnerable people, the disabled and ethnic minorities.
Documentary this Friday 6th on this important topic
June 2025
PAST EVENT
The documentary, Censoring Palestine, will be shown at the United Reform Church in Fisherton Street on Friday 6th June starting at 7:00 for 7:30. It features Peter Oborne, Ken Loach, Alexei Sayle and others and will discuss issues around what we see and read about this tragic conflict and how censorship is active in the UK.
‘In war, the first casualty is truth’ attributed to the Greek philosopher Aeschylus applies in spades to the conflict in Gaza. Indeed, truth has long been a casualty in this conflict which predates the horrific attack on October 7th. The first casualty is that it did not start on October 7th but to the events of 1948 and ’49 when hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Palestinians were cleared from their villages and many were killed in the process. It also has roots in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It is thought that between 750,000 and a million were displaced by the Jewish immigrants. Many of those, and their children, now live in Gaza. Hundreds of villages were blown up or destroyed by the Hagana.
Today, the Israeli government will not allow foreign journalists into Gaza to witness events there. The Israeli spokesman David Mercer said on Channel 4 recently (3 June) when challenged why Israel will not allow independent journalists into Gaza said ‘we are concentrating on getting our hostages out not on getting journalists in’. A weak answer since the two are unconnected. They claim that they are bombing hospitals, homes and other structures because Hamas terrorists are using them as control centres but no evidence has ever been produced. The killing of those desperate for food was because, the Israeli spokesman said on Channel 4 news last evening, IDF soldiers were ‘threatened’ by the surging crowds. The footage we saw was of crowds of people, with not a weapon in sight, hoping to get some food after weeks of the blockade. IDF soldiers are fully armed and there were tanks and quadcopters used to shoot people from the air. Quite how their soldiers were threatened Mr Mercer did not explain (he was asked). In a way the Israelis have hoist themselves by their own petard: we are asked to believe their claims but they prevent any independent verification. 54,600 have now died in Gaza.
British media have a poor record in this conflict. The BBC has been frightened of the anti-Semitic, anti Israel accusations that David Mercer hinted at with Guru Murthy last evening. Its policy of balance has severely let it down. There are some signs of toughening up however. The problem is that the West generally, and America in particular, have supported Israel in all sorts of ways: political cover; weapons; blocking UN resolutions and simply turning a blind eye. Combined with Netanyahu’s need to keep the war going to keep his coalition alive has meant the nation feels it can act with impunity. And it has to be said – they’re not wrong. Until now. The images coming out of Gaza will shock the hardest of hearts. Children sobbing over the bodies of their dead parents and desperately waving pots at food points must surely force some kind of change. Emaciated infants are distressing to behold. It does seem that the coverage is changing and the bland repetition of Israel statements is being more forcefully challenged.
Government failings
Our government has also deceived us in many ways. The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy for example claiming on a BBC programme and in parliament that he had stopped some arms sales when analysis of Israeli records shows that sales have increased. He was lucky to be interviewed by Evan Davies who failed to challenge him. The RAF is conducting hundreds of flights over Gaza the purpose of which is unclear. Yet call this fact up in a search engine and there is very little reporting of it by our media. Quite what they are up to is unclear but the lack of transparency is telling in itself.
The government is keen to use its new powers – gifted to them by the previous government – to arrest or frustrate protestors at the Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems near Bristol, who, their website claims, make the UAS [drones] which are the ‘backbone of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)‘. They denied this in court.
The tragedy of all this is that it will not solve Israel’s problems. Those children left homeless and without parents will prove to be the breeding ground for the next generation of people who will have a hatred of what Israel has done to them.
Members of the group attended the People in the Park event in Salisbury last Saturday and reported a successful day with a lot of interest in human rights issues. This environmentally-focused community festival aims to showcase Salisbury’s green organisations, projects and businesses.
We had a petition on behalf of an environmental campaigner who has been imprisoned in Paraguay, a reminder that campaigners face real threats in some countries if they take on the powerful commercial companies who care little for the environment or indigenous peoples. The petition was willingly signed and we collected several pages. We also had a spinning wheel which stopped at a particular colour to which a question on human rights was posed. Many stopped to have a go.
We also had a handout on refugees a topic which causes great angst in the UK. The recent elections were heavily influenced by this issue and Reform won many seats promising to cure the problem. The Prime Minister was prompted to make a speech on the question which some have felt ill-judged. He said:
“Labour would “take back our borders” and warned that without tighter immigration controls, Britain risks “becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together””. (Leftfootforward.org)
It has been likened to the infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech given by Enoch Powell in 1968 and has been widely condemned. We found our handout, which gave a more balanced view of the world wide nature of the problem, was taken willingly by passers-by. See also a monthly report we prepare.
Altogether, we came away pleased with the responses we received. This is always reassuring as there is considerable media invective directed against the Human Rights Act and recently, the European Convention. All our ‘Stop arming Israel’ stickers went and we ran out of leaflets.
Thanks to group members Andrew, Fiona, Val, Eddie and Peter who took part.
Some positive news on refugees and asylum seekers January 2026 With the events in Venezuela, threats to occupy Greenland and continuing conflict in Ukraine, news about small boat arrivals and immigrants generally has dropped out of the news recently. Problems remain however. Firstly, the final figure for irregular arrivals in the UK by small boats…
January 2026 We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Florida is a feature this month with the rapid increase in the number of executions. Saudi has executed a huge number of people – almost one a day. We note as ever…
Talk by author and journalist Peter Oborne on 21st January 2026 We have posted a number of items on this site about the horrific events in Gaza and the West Bank. 109 vigils have now taken place in Salisbury attended by many concerned at the scale of death and destruction which has taken place. The…
37 aid organisations had their licences revoked on 1st January January 2026 As if the suffering in Gaza was not enough, the Israeli government has announced the ending of licences for 37 aid organisations operating in Gaza and the West Bank. Unwra has already been banned. The latest batch include major aid organisations without which,…
Almost one execution a day and a new record January 2026 No less than 356 people were executed in 2025 exceeding the grizzly total of 338 in the previous year. Large numbers are foreign individuals. Many are executed for drugs crimes sometimes involving trivial amounts. Trials are notoriously unfair and the use of torture is…
The treatment of asylum claimants takes centre stage
May 2025
The question of immigration and boat people continues to make political waves although survey results recently suggest it has dropped down the list of people’s concerns. ONS surveys show that the NHS and the cost of living are of most concern and were the issues which came up in last weeks elections. Only among the over 70s did immigration and such matters have high salience.
There has been much debate in recent weeks about Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, the one that concedes a right to a family life to irregular migrants under threat of deportation. Some political parties wish to remove this right, and the government say it is “under review”. The issue is whether or not this right has been exploited by people whose claim is questionable. Baroness Kennedy has taken up the issue on behalf of claimants.
Indeed, the treatment of asylum claimants after their arrival has taken centre stage lately. Some who were held at the notorious Manston camp have sued the government over the associated health issues. The unfortunate camp is now under attack over the level of drug abuse by staff working there.
The Home Office is eager to reduce the waiting time for appeals from its current 50 weeks to 24. This is not made easier by the downward trend in initial refusals. A further government action has been to declare that proven sex offenders will be denied asylum. It is not known how many applicants may fall into this category. Also on the Government’s mind (as part of the ongoing Border Security Asylum and Immigration Bill) is that lawyers should not be allowed to advise claimants unless properly qualified. The Bill will reach its Report stage in the Commons on Monday and more changes have been promised.
Profits
While much noise has been generated by the possible big profits obtained by the small boat providers, a research team from four UK universities has been looking at the profits made by companies in the border security business. Their report concludes that worldwide the business is worth $377 billion, and in the UK £3.77 billion in contracts with the government, for a wide range of activities (e.g. boat repair, sniffer dogs, marquees). The information is not easy to come by and may well be an underestimate.
The European Commission has proposed setting up a Common European System for Returns (though it is not in the 2024 Migration and Asylum Pact), with processing hubs in third countries (as Italy has tried to do with Albania, but hit legal obstacles). Perhaps surprisingly, the UNHCR has endorsed the idea. It is said that only 20% of people with a deportation order are effectively removed from the EU.
Elsewhere
Much is happening in Greece, notably sentences of 25 years for smuggling (most of which have landed on the pilot). Crete has had 2,500 migrants from Africa in the last year.
Syrian refugees are still in limbo as the government waits to see developments post-Assad. 100,000 are in Europe awaiting recognition as claimants, while the in-power HTS is still listed as a “terrorist organisation”.
Reports that the US sent an Iraqi asylum seeker to Rwanda seem to be supported by news that the White House is in talks with the Rwanda government about sending deportees there, probably to facilities built by the UK.
Notes from elsewhere – 12,000 central African (or Central African?) refugees want to go home from Chad and Cameroon, but there is no support structure to enable this; the UNHCR, on its 75th birthday is warning of a funding crisis; 250,000 exiles have been sent back to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan (96,000 forcibly) and are expected to head for Europe.
‘Backlogs have recurred in the asylum system for decades because successive administrations have pursued bad policies. They have tried to avoid responsibilities rather than take them. Their efforts at deterring and preventing people seeking asylum have broken the system and had other bad effects. This has generally been because they have set aims for the system that are impractical, even illegitimate. Asylum responsibilities cannot be avoided. They can, however, be managed badly or managed well. Fair and efficient decision-making is critical to managing well and avoiding backlogs’.
And a new Urgent Action asking people to write to the Belgian authorities about their refusal to supply accommodation or assistance to 2,500 asylum seekers.
Recommended reading: Nicola Kelly: Anywhere But Here; How Britain’s broken asylum system fails us all (Elliott & Thompson, 2025)
This vigil took place against the backdrop of increasing stress in Gaza as the blockage of supplies begins
to bite. Over 60 days have passed without food, fuel or aid being allowed in. There are distressing pictures of Palestinians arriving with empty food pots and utensils in the hope of acquiring meagre rations. It is part of the plan by Israel to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages they took on October 7th. Several nations have condemned Israel for using food supplies as a weapon of war. People attending the vigil held empty pans to show support for the lack of food available to those living in Gaza.
Israel disputes the claims and they say that aid is being stolen by Hamas for sale on the black market, a claim disputed by aid agencies. Journalists are not allowed into Gaza so establishing truth is difficult in these circumstances.
Over 52,000 have now died in Gaza the majority being women and children. The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that the humanitarian response was on the verge of collapse.
Sources: The Independent; ICRC; Aljazeera; Guardian; Haaretz
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 