Please be that beacon of hope
Star: image by KRAN young person
By Razia, KRAN CEO
In this current new world disorder - where values, morals and principles are being overshadowed by personalities, threats, trade wars and wild unethical solutions to international crises - I wonder where humanity has gone.
The current situation reminds me of the childhood story, The Emperor's New Clothes: a fictitious king is told a yarn about magical new clothes he paid handsomely to be made so that everyone admires and praises him. This is until a lone voice states the reality - the king isn’t wearing any clothes at all!
In a similar vein, world leaders and influencers seem to be flocking unashamedly to please and kowtow to the new egos in power, or reluctantly giving in to their whims - and pushing others to do the same - in the name of peace.
The stakes are high, but the consequences of allowing this charade and playing along, potentially even worse, as we have seen in history.
The fall in internationally-held standards of cooperation, the tightening of borders (EU Pact on Migration Asylum, 2024) as nationalism rises is a worrying growth in the “othering” narrative.
This frames people as undeserving, dehumanising refugees and asylum seekers in the discourse used. It is now becoming accepted and unchallenged in the wider narrative by influencers, thought leaders, the media and policy makers, with the general populace being misinformed and misguided (a recent petition to parliament Close the borders! Suspend ALL immigration for 5 years! - Petitions).
By letting this happen, we are becoming “complicit” if we do not challenge and resist this fundamental shift - not in isolation, but together. We need to collectively be the beacon of hope for change.
At the launch of our Family Matters Oral History Project, held on International Mother Tongue Day (21 February), we reflected on the power of language and words.
As Lord Alf Dubs stated in his recent podcast with us: “KRAN is the voice of human rights and sanity.” We are: “inspirational, courageous and compassionate, speaking out and doing the work on the front line.”
Lord Dubs’ call to action was to shift public opinion, as the main crucial challenge, by helping people understand what happened - and is happening - to refugees and asylum seekers so as to develop the public’s willingness to cooperate, accept and help them.
There are motions in place to facilitate this that you can join and support.
Together for Refugees has its Fair Begins Here Promise for a fair plan for refugees (Home - Together With Refugees).
There are ways to influence existing policy development:
The Refugee (Family Reunion) Bill is moving through the House of Lords Refugees (Family Reunion) Bill [HL] - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament and will hopefully go all the way to becoming an Act, after four attempts over the past seven years.
The new Borders Bill is going through parliament and will hopefully repeal aspects of previous acts (Nationality and Boarders Act, Illegal Migration Act) over the past three years (although some worrying aspects of “criminalisation” are being introduced): Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill Committee stage - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
We should all call out and raise the issues so more people become aware. For example, inspectors have yet again found wanting the conditions for young refugees and asylum seekers managed by the UK: The UK is detaining children in poor conditions at the border in France - Free Movement .
In Kent, the numbers of young, vulnerable separated asylum seekers continues to rise with new reception centres being opened as part of the National Transfer Scheme. We need to ensure appropriate support and provision for them, especially as they turn 19 and are evicted from their homes: Asylum-seeking children 'unprecedented demand' - BBC News
We need to continue to expose social injustices and act. We need to engage a diverse range of communities and networks of interests, bringing them together to build an alternative “collective consciousness”, one small step at a time.
Through each interaction and act of kindness, we know we are changing hearts and minds and the wider narrative. We need to celebrate diversity, cohesion and difference and embed it again in our way of being and doing, to be the guiding principles in our discourse, policy and practice and expose and resist this shift from the ground up.