Dear Editor,
The government’s ‘boats’ policy is a distraction from their own incompetence in processing the claims of asylum seekers.
Stop the small boats! they say. Why do desperate people fleeing persecution, war and dire circumstances cross the Channel on unseaworthy boats? Because, for the overwhelming majority of those seeking asylum, there is no safe way to get here. Right now people escaping conflict in Sudan, many with family here, have no safe route to come to Britain.
More big boats! they say. Isolating those seeking refuge in moored ships reeks of the prisoner hulks of Dickensian times in BBC’s Great Expectations.
The good people of Stroud District who have had the privilege of listening to stories of those who have sought refuge and the journeys they endured, will know that you cannot stop your heart melting and your tears flowing.
Our government seems to have no heart. We want competence and compassion in our government.
Yours sincerely,
Jean Lawton
Stroud District Together with Refugees
