Since the election of a new Labour government, and ahead of the Labour Party Conference, we have been encouraged by its commitment to the Human Rights Act and international laws and treaties.
The UK government now has a crucial opportunity to fulfil its potential of being a global champion of human rights. We are concerned, however, that this cannot be done whilst immigration detention centres remain open, where the abuse of human rights is systematic and widespread. We urge the current government and Labour Party to reconsider this and invest in successful alternatives to detention. There are still a number of positive measures on immigration and asylum which the new Labour government has made, which we wish to see championed unashamedly at the conference. We hope to see Labour seize the opportunity to be bold and thoughtful in expanding human rights as the governing party.
