One of the most harmful changes this year has been the move to deny citizenship to people who have come here seeking sanctuary, purely due to the journey they were forced to take. For survivors like me, citizenship is not just a document – it means ultimate safety. I still remember holding my British passport for the first time. It was the acknowledgment that I was allowed to stay, that I belonged and that I would be protected. Only then did I feel like I could finally breathe.
Now, people who have lived here for decades, paid taxes, contributed to their communities, raised children and built lives for themselves are suddenly told they do not belong. How is that fair? How can anyone recover when they are forced to relive their trauma every few years just to prove they still deserve to stay? And how can we be expected to integrate and put down strong roots if we’re blocked from ever fully belonging? How can the home secretary talk about “healing our communities” while condemning thousands of people to a life on the margins?
At the same time, the government has made refugee family reunion almost impossible. For many survivors, the hope of seeing their family again and providing them with a lifeline to safety is the only thing keeping them going. That hope has now been cruelly torn away. I don’t know how I would have coped if I was separated from my children with no hope of seeing them again. The right to family life should never be stripped away by any government. But it’s happening because we are “just refugees”. This is discrimination dressed up as policy.
And none of this will have the impact that the government is promising, because deterrence doesn’t work as a response to the forced movement of refugees. Torture survivors often describe their flight from persecution as like escaping a burning building: you don’t stop to read the news or analyse complex policy in different countries – you are just running for your life. People come here because they speak the language, they know the culture, or they have family here. If someone is willing to take a chance crossing one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world, then no policy will ever stop them. Without accessible safe routes, all these cruel policies do is make the journey more dangerous.
The asylum system has become a battleground for political point-scoring. But it shouldn’t be. It should be rooted in dignity, compassion and competence. All we ask is for claims to be processed fairly and effectively. For survivors to receive the support they desperately need to recover. For the system to recognise that behind every statistic is a person, with needs – of course – but also with great potential. Instead of jumping on Nigel Farage’s bandwagon, we need real leadership – leaders willing to stand up and champion the rights and dignity of refugees.
People in this country are caring. I know this from my own experience – from neighbours who supported me, colleagues who welcomed me and strangers who showed me kindness when I needed it most. Compassion must never depend on nationality or skin colour. But right now, racism, xenophobia and fear are shaping policies that strip away vital protections and risk sending people back into the hands of their torturers. We must ask ourselves: what kind of country do we want to be?
I still believe that we can choose a different path. No-one wants to live in a Britain that uses vulnerable people as political scapegoats. We can and must demand a politics and an asylum system that treats refugees with compassion. We can refuse to let hate define us. Not because it is easy, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Dine is a member of Survivors Speak OUT.
Freedom from Torture is the only UK-wide charity that exists specifically to support people who have survived torture to recover and rebuild their lives. Together, with survivors we speak out to expose torture and defend the rights of survivors, nationally and globally.
Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more.
Change a vendor’s life this Christmas.
Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week – or support online with avendor support kitor asubscription– and help people work their way out of poverty with dignity.
