more compelling way forward
By Razia, KRAN CEO
With the VE Day 80th Anniversary commemorations concluded, I am mindful that as a result of the war, the mantra “never again” led to adopting as a "common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations", the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Official version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.pdf
This commits nations to recognise all humans as being "born free and equal in dignity and rights" regardless of "nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status.” (ibid)
In turn, this led to a range of conventions regarding fundamental freedoms, the rights for refugees internationally and in Europe. Article 14 of UDHR48 states: “Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” (ibid)
The 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees elaborates on this right. It provides an international meaning of “refugee”, which is a person in another country at risk of persecution in their own country. The convention sets out certain basic rights of refugees, which includes the right not to be returned to a place where they are at risk of persecution. It also includes the right not to be penalised for being in or entering a country without permission where this is necessary for them to seek and receive asylum, The right to asylum. This is currently the position in the UK without safe and legal routes.
How the positioning of “refugees” has changed in the past 75 years! Current mindsets and framing across the world has shifted the dominant narrative and public discourse so fundamentally that it has impacted on social norms, beliefs, behaviours, policies, institutions and systems.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is currently making its way through the House of Lords Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025 - GOV.UK. The recent election results are just the latest evidence of this populist rhetoric which is now further shifting the ethics of those traditionally meant to be more liberal. See this recent Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/12/keir-starmer-immigration-policy-rhetoric-labour-mps-employers.
The government’s new white paper ties border security with migration and includes additional measures for those entering the UK on work visas. Immigration white paper to reduce migration and strengthen border - GOV.UK
What worries me is this shift in the framing and discourse that moves away from morals and principles of protecting the fundamental rights of human beings to positioning refugees as threats to national security, with the need for protectionism and border security. This way of framing and presenting the issues, what it emphasises and how it is explained, is a choice and sounds unfortunately, very similar to previous government’s priority pledges of “Stop the Boats.”
This way of depicting refugees services dominant social group interests and beliefs and gains power through repetition by those in positions of authority. The more something becomes the normal positioning in the nation's mindset, the harder it is to change the tide of opinion.
This is already having a major impact on our young people who are looked-after refugees and asylum seekers and care leavers in Kent. The uncertainty in the past as to whether they could even claim asylum because of the way they entered the UK, the limbo land because of the processing backlog and now people voting for candidates who do not accept that refugees have a right to claim asylum in the UK.
It may well be that services to these vulnerable young people will be stripped to a statutory minimum, the election victory will embolden those in the community to be more vocal and active against this politically-targeted group.
So, what should KRAN do? Sit and wait to see what happens and then react? Make it clear that we will counter any moves made at every turn? Develop alternative services and provisions to compensate for the lack of support and services, thereby absorbing statutory duties of care?
Or is there a more compelling way forward? Working in partnership and collaborating with others to resist and limit the potential damage to be done over the next few years? To not conform and reproduce the dominant narrative but hold fast to the cultural mindset that returns us to the moral imperative of treating refugees and asylum seekers as humans? Humans who are entitled to - and have rights to - seek sanctuary and claim asylum in the UK, to be treated with dignity and respect and be supported to thrive and contribute to our communities.