LONDONS Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert will experience the daily reality of a destitute asylum seeker tomorrow when she sleeps rough in Trafalgar Square to draw attention to the human cost of the Governments Asylum and Immigration Bill. "Asylum seekers are being forced into destitution by a Government whose policy is taken straight from the editorial columns of the right-wing press, said Mrs Lambert, also a member of the European Parliaments Civil Liberties Committee. "The UK must honour its international legal - not to mention
moral - obligations to provide sanctuary to those seeking refuge from tyranny
and persecution, not try to deter refugees with detention and draconian attempts
to drive them into poverty. |
The Coalition brings together refugee, homelessness, and anti-racism organisations. The Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is due to receive its third reading at the House of Commons in March, has been widely condemned by human rights and refugee advocacy organisations, including Amnesty International. |
If passed unamended, it will give the Home Office the right to refuse support to asylum applicants who fail to register their claim within 72 hours of arrival in Britain. Campaigners fear the measure will sends legitimate asylum seekers onto the streets, simply due to lack of awareness.
"I am doing this for one night out of choice to draw attention to the plight of the thousands who do not have that luxury and are being forced to sleep out every night, added Mrs Lambert.
ENDS
For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk