'Desperate people will do desperate things': Amnesty UK chief calls for safe, legal migrant route after Gosport protests
Amnesty UK chief said RNLI volunteers and emergency services have been intimidated while trying to help vulnerable migrants
The head of Amnesty International UK has called for the government to open a safe, legal route for migrants to enter the United Kingdom after anti-migrant protests in Gosport “spilled over into something that nobody wanted to see”.
12 people were arrested at an anti-migrant protest in Gosport on October 4 after a boats containing 149 migrants landed at Fort Blockhouse on Haslar Marina.
Kerry Moscogiuri, Chief Executive Officer of Amnesty International UK, said: “People have the right to protest where they're concerned about something, and especially in their locality, but what I'm concerned about is when a peaceful protest becomes about intimidating people who are going about their work.
“These protests have spilled over into something that nobody would really want to see, which is vulnerable human beings landing at shore after a dangerous sea crossing, and local RNLI volunteers, ambulance and police being intimidated from taking care of people who've just undergone that journey.
“No one wants to see people in these dangerous boats doing ever more dangerous journeys. We need to think about ‘how do we stop this happening at all?’
“There's been a rhetoric that's been allowed to develop in the UK that migrants present a danger, and demonising migrants and blaming them for all of society's ills.
“The prevailing narrative might make people feel worried about migrants. I think politicians and others who talk about migrants and demonise them, need to think about the consequences for how that makes all of us as citizens feel.”
Ms Moscogiuri said that the landings of migrants in Hampshire is due to “a squeeze” by French authorities on areas in Calais, where people smugglers usually launch boats from, causing them to move further west along the French coast.
Journeys launching from Western France are far longer and more dangerous for migrants attempting to cross the channel, as the distance needed to be travelled to reach British shores is much further.
She said: “We want to see the French authorities and the government cooperate much better
“Ultimately that's about really understanding our obligations, being part of humanity, part of a global world and part of Europe. We have an obligation to people that want to seek asylum in the UK, and we should be cooperating with our European neighbours that doesn't drive people into taking these desperate measures.”
Ms Moscogiuri stressed that people who arrive in the UK have the right to apply for asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention, if they fear persecution or serious harm in their home country.
It is not possible for people to claim asylum in the UK from outside of the country, and there is no visa which allows people to enter the UK in order to claim asylum. This means that most people who wish to claim asylum have no choice but to enter the UK without permission.
“People who come to the UK like this, they often have a specific reason for wanting to come to the UK specifically,” she said.
“They wouldn't be in France in the first place if they weren't fleeing something. People don't go into a dangerous small boat unless they are leaving somewhere more dangerous.
“One of the reasons why they often want to come to the UK is because they've got a family here. If you think about leaving your country because you are in danger, you would want to head somewhere where you have some connection. So often a strong reason is having family here.
“It might also be that they speak English and so think that they would be able to make their lives better here or they have other connections. They're each individual people, all of them, they're not one homogenous group, so when they get here, of course, then they need to be fairly assessed.
“They have the right to claim asylum. If their asylum claim is not upheld, then they don't have the right to be here, but they absolutely do have the right to go through that process.
“The government needs to be thinking at a deeper level about how to create safe routes for people who are fleeing and want to seek asylum, and how can they do that safely, which is their right to do.
“Ultimately that is how these smuggling gangs and these boats will in the end be stopped, because there are no other legitimate ways that people can get here. And desperate people will do desperate things.”