{"id":278543,"date":"2025-11-23T07:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/278543\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T07:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:16:11","slug":"labours-asylum-shake-up-will-only-punish-torture-survivors-like-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/278543\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour’s asylum ‘shake up’ will only punish torture survivors like me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taken\u00a0together, these reforms\u00a0will make\u00a0refugee<\/a>\u00a0integration almost impossible. How can anyone put down strong roots if they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know whether they will be allowed to stay? How can you build a\u00a0business\u00a0or plan for your children\u2019s future? How can you form meaningful connections in your community when the government is telling you that you\u00a0are only here on borrowed time?\u00a0Even survivors who have lived here for decades will\u00a0feel\u00a0like\u00a0the rug can be pulled from under their feet at any moment.\u00a0This level of uncertainty is not just\u00a0unhelpful;\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0deeply harmful.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The home secretary says she wants to heal a divided society, yet these proposals will do the opposite.\u00a0Treating refugees as outsiders who can never fully belong\u00a0will only\u00a0deepen\u00a0the sense of \u201cus and them\u201d that\u00a0is pulling\u00a0communities\u00a0apart.<\/p>\n

Also proposed this week are\u00a0reforms\u00a0to\u00a0rush asylum appeals through a\u00a0process that will deny refugees a fair hearing of\u00a0their case. Survivors often struggle to\u00a0disclose\u00a0what\u00a0has\u00a0happened to them.\u00a0They need\u00a0time,\u00a0stability and, crucially,\u00a0access to\u00a0a\u00a0legal\u00a0representative\u00a0with whom they have a\u00a0relationship of trust,\u00a0for those details to come out. Fast-tracking\u00a0asylum\u00a0claims or restricting\u00a0access to\u00a0appeal dramatically increases the risk\u00a0of\u00a0poor quality\u00a0and unsafe decisions. When quality is sacrificed for\u00a0the\u00a0sake of\u00a0speed,\u00a0refugees\u00a0are in danger of being\u00a0sent back to persecution.\u00a0We all want a process that is\u00a0efficient,\u00a0but\u00a0these are life and death decisions that cannot be rushed.<\/p>\n

Most\u00a0people in the UK want\u00a0an asylum system\u00a0rooted\u00a0in\u00a0fairness\u00a0and compassion.\u00a0Refugees<\/a>\u00a0are not outsiders.\u00a0We\u00a0are your\u00a0neighbours,\u00a0colleagues\u00a0and friends.\u00a0We\u00a0contribute to our communities, our\u00a0economy\u00a0and our\u00a0shared\u00a0culture.\u00a0Most people in this country are caring and\u00a0compassionate,\u00a0but these proposals betray that kindness. They will not fix the system, they will not bring us\u00a0together\u00a0and they will not help people to rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n

We must choose a system that is\u00a0effective\u00a0and humane, one that gives people\u00a0a fair\u00a0hearing and, if\u00a0recognised\u00a0as needing our\u00a0protection,\u00a0the\u00a0long-term\u00a0stability\u00a0required\u00a0to rebuild their lives and\u00a0to belong.\u00a0We\u00a0must come together\u00a0to\u00a0reject these reforms and demand better.<\/p>\n

Kolbassia\u00a0Haoussou is the survivor leadership and influencing director at Freedom from Torture.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Change a vendor\u2019s life this Christmas.<\/p>\n

Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 or support online with a\u00a0vendor support kit<\/a>\u00a0or a\u00a0subscription<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and help people work their way out of poverty with dignity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taken\u00a0together, these reforms\u00a0will make\u00a0refugee\u00a0integration almost impossible. How can anyone put down strong roots if they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know whether they will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1417,114000,59,80,57,58,2795,114001,1634,50,6884,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-278543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-asylum-seekers","9":"tag-environment-and-community","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-government","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-greatbritain","14":"tag-immigration","15":"tag-immigration-system","16":"tag-labour","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-opinion","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}