April 2024
Write to your MP about providing refugees and asylum seekers with safe and legal routes to the UK by using the template below:
Dear [name of MP],
I am writing to you as a member of your constituency, who is increasingly concerned
by the criminalisation of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and the impossible position that many fleeing conflict and persecution are put in.
As you are aware, the lack of safe and legal routes means refugees and asylum seekers have little choice when taking often difficult journeys to the UK where, once arriving, they are treated as criminals by our Home Office and demonised in our press.
The UK currently operates two main schemes for refugees and asylum seekers and their families:‘resettlement’ and ‘family reunion’. However, these schemes are operated to such a limited capacity that currently limits the access to those coming from only four territories: Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria and Hong Kong. Thus, excluding refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war or persecution from other countries. In addition, the definition used for ‘family’ is far too limited.
The cruel reality is that the current lack of safe routes force refugees and asylum seekers into the hands of human traffickers and have contributed to the ongoing deaths we see too much of in the English Channel.
As a Jewish person, with a history of a people who have historically and consistently sought refuge and asylum, I see it as imperative that the UK makes the lives of those fleeing persecution easier, not harder; more compassionate, less inhumane.
One of the most famous safe routes operated to the UK was the Kindertransport, which we have just seen the 85th anniversary of. Groups such as World Jewish Relief and Quakers acted as guarantors for 10,000 Jewish children who were provided with visas, which enabled them to escape Nazi-occupied territories.
As Jewish people, we are no strangers to suffering. The human rights protections you are being asked to promote were written as a response to the Holocaust by Jewish lawyers and British politicians, representing the collaborative efforts that we have taken and will continue to take in protecting those who are vulnerable.
As my MP, I hope you will be able to advocate for safe routes, which include:
- A multi-year target for resettling refugees and asylum seekers, which significantly expands on the number currently being resettled.
- Greater access to refugee family reunion by allowing children to be reunited with parents and using a more realistic definition of what counts as family.
- A scheme with the EU which allows for family members in different countries to be reunited.
- A “refugee visa” that allows people to travel to the UK before applying for asylum.
This issue is imperative to saving lives. As a country that has historically provided care to those seeking safety from persecution, I hope you support the UK’s promotion of a compassionate, welcoming, and safe environment for refugees and asylum seekers.
Yours sincerely,
[your name]
[your postcode – to show you are a constituent]
[contact details – optional]
Download the template here.
