JCWI petition for an Independent Commission into the policies and practices of the Home Office, ...

[IlonaM]

JCWI has started a petition calling for an Independent Commission into the policies and practices of the Home Office, and the ?hostile environment?.

Please do sign and share with your networks: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/219003

Petition text:

'An Independent Commission into the Home Office and the "hostile environment"

The Windrush Scandal and Amber Rudd?s resignation have shown the chaotic and cruel way the Home Office operates.

This crisis was caused by Theresa May?s ?hostile environment? policy. The policy ruins lives, puts people at risk of destitution and removal, and increases the risk of modern slavery.

It asks landlords and doctors to act as border guards and there is no evidence that the policy works.

Migrants and those who look or sound 'foreign' are at most risk.

We can no longer trust that the Home Office can function effectively and fairly.

We need an Independent Commission to look into the behaviour of the Home Office and its ?hostile environment?. It is the only way to ensure that all those caught up in Theresa May?s ?hostile environment? are protected.'

[uncleglen]

Rubbish

[Robert Poste's Child]

Have to say this petition seems misguided to me. It looks like a badly thought-out campaign using the Windrush issue as a lever in a somewhat spurious way to destabilise the Conservative government. Doesn't feel right to me.

[IlonaM]

This is not a new or novel issue with the Home Office and immigration/asylum cases - as a practitioner in the field and a monitor of the quality of decision-making for UNHCR I spent my career dealing with poor decision-making, incompetence, toxic attitudes and misinformation.

The problem is not restricted to Windrush cases, but spreads across Commonwealth cases, EU nationals resident in the UK etc. and that is just looking at issues arising over the last year. The Windrush cases date back years - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/10/its-destroyed-my-life-windrush-victim-recognised-as-legal-citizen-after-13-years.

The 'Hostile Environment' created by May as Home Secretary was merely an extension of a well-established culture of disbelief and cynicism prevalent within the UKBA and its forebears. Both the Labour Government and the Tory Government treated immigrants and asylum seekers abysmally.

The system is flawed - transparency, a change of deep-seated culture and attitudes, training and oversight would go a long way to making our immigration system fairer and well-run. See further: https://migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2018/04/24/senior-judge-calls-uk-immigration-rules-a-disgrace/?mc_cid=5ef9a58908&mc_eid=c6ca3ef600

The JCWI petition is not an attempt to destabilise the Tory Government; they are doing a great job of doing that themselves with infighting over Brexit.

If you disagree with the petition, don't sign it. If you would like something constructive done, please do sign and share it widely.

[Robert Poste's Child]

IlonaM Wrote:

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>

> If you disagree with the petition, don't sign it.

> If you would like something constructive done,

> please do sign and share it widely.

That's rather a binary attitude, Ilona. You've chosen to post this on a public forum so I think it's fine for people to discuss both the issue and the petition.

You post a lot of petitions here so clearly you're passionate about things. Just my opinion but you'll get further with them if you don't push away the negative reactions.

[JohnL]

Robert Poste's Child Wrote:

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> Have to say this petition seems misguided to me.

> It looks like a badly thought-out campaign using

> the Windrush issue as a lever in a somewhat

> spurious way to destabilise the Conservative

> government. Doesn't feel right to me.

Can they be more unstable ?

[Robert Poste's Child]

They're still staggering along right now, so yes!

[flocker spotter]

if - as now generally accepted in the sunny daylight of the post Brexit referendum landscape - the UKG is a delivery method for the will of the people, then surely UKG Home Office actions are a derivate of the peoples will.

[JohnL]

flocker spotter Wrote:

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> if - as now generally accepted in the sunny

> daylight of the post Brexit referendum landscape

> - the UKG is a delivery method for the will of the

> people, then surely UKG Home Office actions are a

> derivate of the peoples will.

There's an ethics issue at some point though (wherever the line gets drawn) - Many evil policies in other countries histories were the will of that countries people but the culprits still get punished eventually and "will of the people" is no defence.

This UN expert says we may have passed that line.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/theresa-mays-hostile-environment-is-destroying-the-lives-of-ethnic-minority-britons-warns-un-expert_uk_5af57ca9e4b00d7e4c19b881

[robbin]

I'm afraid I can't muster an ounce of interest in what that UN 'expert' has to say on the issue.