The Migrant Champions Network, a network of local councillors formed to stand up for the rights of all migrants which was launched earlier this year, has issued an open letter for Councillors to sign, objecting to the government’s latest plans for asylum accommodation.

Below is the text of the open letter, to be signed by local authority councillors. Please sign and share with others for signature, and sign using your council email address.

As a group of local councillors from across the UK – and from different political parties – we are appalled by this Government’s latest abhorrent plans for people seeking sanctuary in our communities. The so-called ‘Illegal Migration’ Bill – which UNHCR has dubbed an outright asylum ban – is being pushed through Parliament at breakneck speed. There is no time for adequate scrutiny of legislation that would see children locked up in detention, and hundreds of thousands of people left in limbo indefinitely. At the same time, the Government is going even further, announcing ever more inhumane and shameful measures – all part of its plan to concoct a crisis in our asylum system, with those seeking asylum paying the price.

But our system is run not by central Government, but by us – local communities and the people elected to represent them. We know that our communities want to welcome newcomers, and we will support them to do this.

Housing people in ex-prisons, disused barracks and rusty ships will have disastrous consequences – as the Government is well aware. When asylum-seekers were housed at the “filthy” and “decrepit” Napier Barracks during the height of COVID, public health guidance was ignored, and COVID spread like wildfire. More recently, 31-year-old Hussein Haseeb Ahmed lost his life, likely due to diphtheria, after being housed in extremely overcrowded and completely unacceptable conditions at the notorious centre in Manston, a former Ministry of Defence site.

His death was not an unforeseen tragedy – it was the inevitable result of this government’s political choice to trash the human rights of people seeking sanctuary as a smokescreen to distract from their failure to tackle the cost of living crisis, and the government-made crises affecting our public services.

As local councillors, we pledge to resist this latest attack on the rights and dignity of people seeking asylum. We represent and stand up for everyone living in our areas: those born here, those who have lived here for years and those recently arrived. Everyone has the right to safe housing, healthcare, welcoming communities and fair treatment. There has been a consistent failure to address the housing issues that affect everyone in our communities – and the blame for this lies squarely at the feet of Government, not at those of people seeking sanctuary here.

The new accommodation sites being proposed – which include former prisons that have seen devastating riots, and decommissioned barges – will not be fit for purpose. People who have faced unimaginable trauma in their home countries and on the journey towards sanctuary, must be housed in their communities, with access to adequate support services.

The Home Office is recklessly endangering people’s lives by placing them in expensive and manifestly unsafe accommodation, and leaving them at the mercy of private companies that treat them as commodities. But despite the failures of central government, local authorities still have duties and powers to ensure that:

• homes are safe and sanitary, and are protected from fire and other risks
• children are protected and have access to education
• public health is promoted and supported
• vulnerable adults receive appropriate care and assistance
• workplaces are safe
• food hygiene regulations are observed
• buildings and land in our areas are used in accordance with local plans and the needs of the community 
• we act to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation in our areas, and advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations

Our communities must be supported to welcome new arrivals, not encouraged to turn against each other. The Home Office’s calculated strategy of division and disdain will not work – our communities, and our care for one another, are stronger and better than that.

As local councillors, we pledge to ensure that our councils use all the powers we have to protect and defend our residents and work tirelessly for the good of all our communities, to ensure that all can live safely and with dignity.

This letter is organised by the Migrant Champions Network. You can sign here. Visit the website to find out more about the network and how to join. 

Image: March 18th demonstration, c/o Mike Phipps