The former leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, will be among a prominent and diverse line-up of speakers addressing a national protest against the government’s plans to introduce legislation designed to make easier the stripping of nationality from those with foreign ancestry.
Dubbed the ‘Citizenship Bill’, the Nationality and Borders Bill which is currently passing through Parliament, gives the Home Secretary the right to strip Britons with foreign ancestry of their nationality without notice.
Approximately six million people in Britain – those born overseas or who have a parent born abroad – could be affected if the law comes into force.
Mr Corbyn has called the bill “abhorrent”.
The Bill seeks to give the Secretary of State what opponents have called an “excessive, ill-defined and unconstitutional power” to make a deprivation order without notice and with fewer safeguards for those it targets. There is no test or clear definition for exercise of the proposed powers. The Home Secretary is judge, jury and executioner.
The Bill also targets migrants by giving Border Force officers powers to turn refugees away from the UK while at sea, and makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK without permission.
As such it creates punitive and inhumane barriers for those who rightly deserve asylum, leaving them at the mercy of human traffickers. The Government’s own lawyers have even warned that they would likely lose a case on the lawfulness of forcing migrant boats to reverse course. All this serves to only further entrench an environment that is hostile to migrants and to those with migrant backgrounds.
Among the other speakers are Lee Jasper a civil rights campaigner, Mike Cashman of Jewish Voice for Labour, Zita Holbourne of BARAC UK and Massoud Shadjareh of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
More politicians, trades union activists and representatives of the organising coalition are also due to address the protestors.
The demonstration is supported by the following civil society organisations:
BARAC UK Association of Muslim Lawyers Cube Network Sikh Council UK BLM Coalition Jewish Voice for Labour BAME Lawyers for Justice Society of Black Lawyers Labour Black Socialist Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK Society of Asian Lawyers End Violence and Racism Against East and Southeast Asian Communities (EVR) Muslim Association of Britain Finsbury Park Mosque Islamic Human Rights Commission CAGE Save Our Citizenships Sikh Human Rights Stop the War Restless Beings Friends of Al-Aqsa Windrush Lives Stand up to Racism Kesri Lehar Another Europe Is Possible Muslim Engagement and Development The Monitoring Group
PROTEST DETAILS:
When: Sunday 27 February, 12.00am
Assembling at Home Office, SW1P 4DF to march to Parliament Square
For more information or comment please contact 07470 630857
