Dreaming Big | Margate Mercury
Drawn as we often are to the iconic white cliffs that jut out before the outstretched arms of a boundless blue sea, how many of us spare a thought for those on that perilous crossing, and the cost to some just to be free?
Since 2003, the tireless diligence and selfless commitment of Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) has seen its steady growth within the community as one of the region’s most established registered charities. With National Refugee Week approaching in June, and at a time when the subject of refugees couldn’t possibly get any more divisive or politicised, the need to listen to those working on the ground level with the often voiceless and the vulnerable, some of who are housed here in Margate, seems evermore appropriate.
On 27 April, the UK government’s controversial Nationality and Borders Bill was passed by the Lords and became one step closer to becoming law. Under the plan, people who arrive in the UK via “unofficial routes”, such as on small boats crossing the Channel, could be deported to a third country where their asylum claims will be processed offshore, thus forfeiting any prospect of settling in the UK. While specific costs and logistics for such a proposal are yet to be divulged by the Home Office, the government has named the landlocked East African nation of Rwanda as the destination, agreeing to foot the £120 million bill as part of an “economic transformation and integration fund”, which is not inclusive of any additional operational costs that will no doubt be incurred along the way.
Yet, even after the PM had spoken at a press conference at Kent’s Lydd Airport about “economic migrants taking advantage of the asylum system”, or “this problem (which) has bedevilled our country for too long”, and despite the media having widely circulated the news that the bill had already been signed off and approved by the Home Secretary Priti Patel, as recently as 3 May there were reports of several hundred people crossing the channel in a period of three to four days, bringing the total of those making the treacherous journey so far this year, as I write this, to a figure exceeding 7,000.
Throughout the administrative shifts of five UK Prime Ministers and several governments, KRAN has been steadfast in their commitment to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers receive all the necessary tools in order to reach their full potential, while never inhibiting their scope to dream big.
Read the full article including the interview with Bridget Chapman of Kent Refugee Action Network here.
Image courtesy of Bridget Chapman.
