Act now:
1. Add your name to the statement below
Email your name, position and organisation to: info@standuptoracism.org.uk
2. Make your voice heard!
Download the ‘Refugee Lives Matter’ poster (A4 PDF file, 75kb) and take a picture with it to show your support. Tweet your pics @antiracismday.
Statement: Don’t let them drown – restore rescue operations to the Mediterranean now!
The horrific deaths of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean are an indictment of British and European Union policy towards migration. The human catastrophe currently playing out in the Mediterranean where over 1000 people have already drowned has to be stopped. It is intolerable in a civilised society. The recent deaths are a direct consequence of the EU decision to cut search and rescue operations. Whatever other steps are taken the search and rescue must be reinstated. Please support the following initiatives to campaign for the reinstating of rescue operations.
Over 1,000 people have died in recent days as a result of deliberate policy decisions.
Last year the EU decided to end the Mare Nostrum rescue project. It was replaced by the wholly inadequate Operation Triton, which operates only within 30 miles of the Italian coast. It was inevitable this would mean mass deaths. The policy was enthusiastically supported by British Home Secretary Theresa May.
As Dan Hodges wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “There was nothing accidental about the deaths. They were killed as a direct – and deliberate – act of government policy. EU policy. And British government policy. In October of last year I wrote about how ministers had adopted a new strategy for dealing with the wave of children, women and men fleeing the charnel houses of Syria and Libya. It involved drowning them.”
Nothing has changed. Frantic discussions among EU leaders have produced only plans to bomb the boats used to transport refugees. Home Office minister James Brokenshire argued on Monday that rescuing people would only encourage more to travel. This idea was originally put forward by Foreign Office minister Lady Anelay, who last year called the rescues an “unintended ‘pull factor’”.
We condemn those who have allowed refugees to drown, and call for the immediate restoration of a full search and rescue scheme. We call for an end to the Fortress Europe policy that condemns people experiencing war and poverty to their deaths.
The countries that invaded Libya have a particular responsibility for what has happened. They shattered that society and now condemn to death those who seek to flee the chaos.
We condemn politicians across the political spectrum who have used fears of migration in a sordid scramble to win votes. This has created an atmosphere where the deaths of thousands can be brushed aside.
We will not forget the women, children and men who have died; we will not allow this issue to be forgotten. We support all those who have taken to the streets calling for a change of policy and demand urgent action to stop the deaths.
Initial signatories:
Diane Abbott PPC Hackney North & Stoke Newington
Jeremy Corbyn PPC Islington North
Claude Moraes MEP
Anneliese Dodds MEP
Natalie Bennett Leader, The Green Party of England & Wales
Mark Serwotka General Secretary PCS
Tony Kearns Senior Deputy General Secretary CWU
Christine Blower General Secretary NUT
Kevin Courtney Deputy General Secretary NUT
Louise Jameson Actor
Don Flynn Migrant Rights Network
Kofi Mawuli Klu Chief Exec Commissioner PANAFRIINDABA
Esther Stanford-Xosei Co-Vice Chair, Pan Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe
Ladislav Balaz Chair, Europe Roma Network
Grattan Puxon Honorary President, Europe Roma Network
David Landau Jewish Socialists’ Group and Vice President Redbridge Trades Council.
Gethin Roberts Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners
Weyman Bennett & Sabby Dhalu Joint National Secretaries, Unite Against Fascism and Organisers, Stand Up To Racism
Dr Rhetta Moran RAPAR
Mohammed Kozbar VP, Muslim Association of Britain
David Landau Jewish Socialists’ Group and VP Redbridge Trades Council
Lindsey German Convenor, Stop the War Coalition
Zita Holbourne Co-Chair Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts
Movement Against Xenophobia
Searchlight Magazine & Trade Union Friends of Searchlight
Juan C Piedra Ecuador Movement in UK
Tony Warner Consultant Black History Walks
Charlie Kimber National Secretary, Socialist Workers Party
Tom Machell Prospect CMD Sector Executive (pc)
Balwinder Singh Rana Sikhs Against the EDL
Margaret Woods Trade Union Organiser Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees
Glyn Ford former Labour MEP (1984-2009)
Lucila Granada Advocacy & Campaigns Coordinator Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK
Laura Murray Labour Party – Holborn & St Pancras GC, Unison – Greater London Authority branch.
Ken Muller Joint Secretary Islington Teachers Association (NUT)
Philip Lewis Camden UNISON Branch Vice Chair & Health & Safety officer UNISON National and Regional Health and Safety Committee Member
Jonathan Boud CWU rep, Harrow and District Branch
Richard Morgan Branch Treasurer (pc), Unite LE/7355E South Cambridgeshire Branch
Dave Statham Treasurer, Brent trades council.
Tony Conway Coventry against Racism
Andy Cairns Lecturer Plymouth College of Art
Dean Ryan Islington Unison shop steward
Ben Gelblum Journalist
Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Solicitor, Ganguin Samartin
Jan O’Malley Lambeth Keep Our NHS Public (pc)
Naomi Harley Project Worker – Children’s Services Powys County Council
Steve Dawe County Press Officer Oxfordshire Green Party
Hugh Lanning Labour Parliamentary Candidate Canterbury & Whitstable
Glyn Robbins Left Unity – TUSC candidate, Bethnal Green and Bow
Denver Garrison Lewisham Anti-Racist Action Group
Sasha Simic Shop Steward USDAW C133 branch, Central Books, (pc)
Email: info@standuptoracism.org.uk with your name, position and organisation to support this statement.