The Drowned and the Saved
Nick Hardinges of LBC, September 10th reported that “the home secretary authorised Border Force staff to use turnaround methods for dinghies making the perilous journey across the often choppy waters” https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/priti-patel-pushback-tactics-migrant-boat-crossings-channel-charity-mps-react
Lately however a most unlikely public service body has taken a stand against the abject cruelty of Priti Patel, the Tory Home Secretary, wanting migrants’ drownings as her Christmas movie of choice and that’s PCS members in Border Force, who are suing the government. Let me now declare an interest as I’m a member of PCS, in both Culture and its ARMS section. The fact of the matter is, is that she’s effectively trying to make trade union members complicit in murder, by stating that members of border force, will be exempt from prosecution if refugees drown as a result of the Australia based policy of “push back”.
PCS has had the moral backbone to refuse to be complicit. Rajeev Syal, in the Guardian on November 14th reported, “Officers from the PCS union have said they are prepared to launch a high court challenge to the lawfulness of Priti Patel’s plans. The home secretary has maintained that the tactic of intercepting and sending back boats to France would be within the law. Documents from the Home Office seen by the Guardian show that the government’s own lawyers have warned ministers that the tactic could lead to a legal challenge from a union or possible strike action.
In the same article, Kevin Mills, the PCS lead for Border force was unequivocal when he said “We have examined the possibility of launching a judicial review. PCS is in consultation with its members and a number have raised direct concerns about the pushback tactic — the safety and if it is legal. If someone dies, it won’t be Priti Patel taking the body out of the water. And to say that the officers concerned won’t be prosecuted does not help our members’ mental health,”” https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/14/union-considers-legal-action-over-channel-refugee-pushbacks
The push back from the right was fairly swift on social media and was suitably nasty, as you can see from Tom Hunt, the Tory MP for Ipswich, as part of right-wing Baywatch. A lot of the comments on his twitter page combined in equal measure contempt for PCS members having a moral compass and migrants and refugees
Spiked, that assorted bunch of ‘libertarians’ for hire, raised what is at the heart of the refugee crisis, namely that of borders and immigration controls. While Spiked are happy to point to the cruelty of Fortress Europe, in effect Spiked are arguing that no matter what happens, to them, migrants and refugees are not welcome here and that the Fortress Britain should have the drawbridge permanently up
Frank Furedi, wrote, on November 15th, in a manner reminiscent of a Tory suffering from too much port and not enough exercise that “For example, throughout this year the Border Force has appeared helpless before the ceaseless flow of illegal migrants to the shores of Kent. At points, it has looked as if it has more or less abandoned the pretence of protecting Britain’s borders” https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/11/15/not-even-the-border-force-believes-in-borders-anymore.
Furedi’s article is but a less polite rendering of what one comes to expect from the logical outcome and direction of one who venerates the nation state and a rampant nationalism with no pretence of liberalism. The article makes a false equation here of borders, citizenship, rights and democracy. What’s more by ‘othering’ refugees and migrants in this manner, it legitimises harsh measures by both the state and vigilante mobs, roaming the beach towns around Kent
Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are not here to take “our jobs” …Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are not here to take “our houses”…Migrants, refugees,and asylum seekers are not here to take “our schools”.
Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are fleeing our bombs and bullets…Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are fleeing our occupations of their countries…Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are fleeing our econmoic sanctions imposed on their economies.
I believe that, those of us on the left should be saying open the borders and let our sisters and brothers in, because no one human is illegal.
