Joint civil society statement on the passage of the Illegal Migration Act

As a coalition of 290 organisations representing the human rights, migrants’ rights, refugee and asylum, anti-trafficking, children’s, violence against women and girls, LGBTQI+, disability rights, health, housing, racial justice, criminal justice, arts, international development, environment, democracy, pan-equality, faith, access to justice, and other sectors, we condemn the passage of the Illegal Migration Act today, and stand in solidarity with all who will be affected.

We all deserve to live safe from harm. But this senselessly cruel Act will have a devastating impact on people’s lives. It turns our country’s back on people seeking safety, blocking them from protection, support, and justice at a time they need it most.

In abandoning the UK’s moral and legal obligations, the Act risks breaching multiple international human rights treaties including the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights while shielding the Government from accountability. The UK Government has admitted that it cannot confirm if the Act is compatible with the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Act will force people into situations that threaten their lives – whether by placing children in detention or sending people off to countries where their lives might be at grave risk. Moreover, the Act attacks the very core of human rights, which is the principle that we all have them regardless of who we are or where we are from. In stripping the most basic rights from people seeking safety and a better life, the Act dismantles human rights protections for all of us.

Either all of us have human rights, or none of us do. While the UK Government’s plans will harm those seeking safety the most, this is an attack on all of us and the values we hold dear.

The government has rushed through this law despite broad and deep opposition. But our fight is not over. As caring people, we will continue to fight for the right for people to seek safety and a better life without being forced to take dangerous journeys and without being punished for how they enter the UK. We will keep holding those in power to account for upholding the UK’s international obligations. We will strive for an asylum and immigration system that treats everyone with dignity and respect. We will stand in solidarity with and fight alongside everyone who makes the UK their home and build a society that treats everyone with compassion.

Signatories:

1. Akiko Hart, Interim Director, Liberty
2. Alexandra Lopoukhine, Interim Executive Director, JCWI
3. Sonya Sceats, Chief Executive, Freedom from Torture
4. Joyce Kallevik, Director, WISH
5. Professor Robert Moore, NWREN
6. Eiri Ohtani, Director, Right to Remain
7. Alison Pickup, Director, Asylum Aid
8. Jess McQuail, Director, Just Fair
9. Julie Bishop, Director, Law Centres Network
10. Kyle Taylor, Founder, Fair Vote UK
11. Kerry Smith, CEO, Helen Bamber Foundation
12. Andrea Simon, Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition
13. Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity, Govan Community Project
14. Amber Bauer, CEO, forRefugees
15. Anna Rudd, Interim Director, ASSIST Sheffield
16. Jim McAuliffe, Chair, Lighthouse Relief
17. Robina Qureshi, Positive Action in Housing
18. Kayte Cable and Vicki Felgate, Co-founders, Big Leaf Foundation
19. Siân Summers-Rees, Chief Officer, City of Sanctuary UK
20. Christine Bacon, Co-Artistic Director, Ice and Fire Theatre
21. Mark Goldring, Director, Asylum Welcome
22. Shameem Ahmad, CEO, Public Law Project
23. Marguerite Hunter Blair, CEO, Play Scotland
24. Aderonke Apata, Founder and CEO, African Rainbow Family
25. Sarah Teather, Director, Jesuit Refugee Service UK
26. Amos Schonfield, CEO, Our Second Home
27. Emma Ginn, Director, Medical Justice
28. Mia Hassenson-Gross, Director, René Cassin
29. Katie Fennell, National Coordinator, KIND UK
30. Dr Shabna Begum and Laurence Jay, Interim Co-CEO’s, Runnymede Trust
31. Stephanie Habib, Executive Team, English for Action (EFA) London
32. Anna MacDonald, Co-founder, Play for Progress
33. Dr Helen Taylor, Director, Stories and Supper
34. Anne Fox, CEO, Clinks
35. Liz Fekete, Director, Institute of Race Relations
36. Chris Jones, Director, Statewatch
37. Leila Zadeh, Executive Director, Rainbow Migration
38. Anna Jones, CEO & Co Founder, RefuAid
39. Shoaib M Khan, Partner, SMK Law Solicitors
40. William Gomes, Director, The William Gomes Podcast
41. Alphonsine Kabagabo, Director, Women for Refugee Women
42. Bridget Young, Director, NACCOM (No Accommodation Network)
43. Dr Ruth Allen, Chief Executive, British Association of Social Workers
44. Sebastian Rocca, CEO, Micro Rainbow
45. Anber Raz, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Imkaan
46. Naomi Webb, Executive Director, Good Chance Theatre
47. Zara Mohammed, Secretary-General, Muslim Council of Britain
48. Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson, Moderator of General Assembly, United Reformed Church
49. Trustee, Waltham Forest Migrant Action
50. Rosario Guimba-Stewart, CEO, Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network (LRMN)
51. Mel Steel, Director, Voices in Exile
52. Lis Murphy, Creative Director, Music Action International
53. Mariko Hayashi, Executive Director, Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC)
54. Zrinka Bralo, CEO, Migrants Organise
55. Fizza Qureshi, CEO, Migrants’ Rights Network
56. Robbie de Santos, Director of External Affairs, Stonewall
57. Sally Daghlian OBE, CEO, Praxis
58. Emily Crowley, Chief Executive, Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
59. Peter Marsden, CEO, Concordis International
60. Lara Parizotto & Alex Bulat, Co-Directors, Migrant Democracy Project
61. Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive, Refugee Action
62. Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive, Amnesty International UK
63. Anthea Sully, Chief Executive, White Ribbon UK
64. Souad Talsi MBE, Founder and Interim CEO, Al-Hasaniya Moroccan Women’s Project Ltd
65. Hugh Russell, Chief Executive, Children in Wales – Plant Yng Nghymru
66. Comfort Etim, Director, Refugee Women Connect
67. James Wilson, Director, Detention Action
68. Revd Gill Newton, President of the Methodist Conference
69. Joanne MacInnes, West London Welcome
70. Kerry Scarlett, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference
71. Natasha Eeles, CEO & Founder, Bold Voices
72. Dianna Nammi, Executive Director, IKWRO
73. Alison, JURIES
74. Christine Allen, Director, CAFOD
75. Catharine Walston, Chair of Core Committee, Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
76. Marissa Green, Chair of Trustees, Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group
77. Jayne Butler, CEO, Rape Crisis England and Wales
78. Marchu Belete & Sarah Cutler, Co-directors, Migration Exchange
79. Aké Achi, Founding Chief Executive, Migrants At Work
80. Aké Achi, CEO, Black Europeans
81. Shaminder Ubhi, Director, Ashiana Network
82. Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director, Human Rights Watch
83. Angie Herrera, Director, Latin American Women’s Aid (LAWA)
84. Harriet Wistrich, Director, Centre for Women’s Justice
85. Iona Taylor, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead, Positive Action in Housing
86. Emma Hutton, CEO, JustRight Scotland
87. Nick Watts, Director, Together with Migrant Children
88. Ruth Davison, CEO, Refuge
89. Mollin Delve, CEO, PHOEBE
90. Enver Solomon, CEO, Refugee Council
91. Sabrina Qureshi, Founder and Coordinator, Million Women Rise Movement
92. Jo Cobley, CEO, Young Roots
93. Laura Tomson and Rachel Adamson, Co-Directors, Zero Tolerance
94. Steven Smith, CEO, Care4Calais
95. Kathy Evans, Chief Executive, Children England
96. Indy Cross, Chief Executive Officer, Agenda Alliance
97. Shari Brown, Partnership and Development Manager, Refugee and Migrant Centre (West Midlands)
98. Kate Roberts, Head of Policy, FLEX
99. Selma Taha, Executive Director, Southall Black Sisters
100. Estelle Du Boulay, Director, Rights of Women
101. Rita Gava, Kalayaan
102. Natalie Collins, CEO, Own My Life
103. Jason Thomas-Fournillier, Senior Administrator, Spectrum Rainbow Community
104. Gisela Valle, Director, LAWRS
105. Catherine Gladwell, Chief Executive, Refugee Education UK
106. Barbara Drozdowicz, CEO, East European Resource Centre
107. Lucy Nabijou, Coordinator, Haringey Welcome
108. Dr David Brown, Chair, Birmingham City of Sanctuary
109. Josie Naughton, CEO, Choose Love
110. Danielle Roberts, Senior Policy and Development Officer, Here NI
111. Khedijah Mohammed-Nur, Cofounder, Network of Eritrean Women-UK
112. Rupert Skilbeck, Director, REDRESS
113. Sophie Neuburg, Director, Medact
114. Sharon Erdman, CEO, RASASC
115. Ghadah Alnasseri, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Hibiscus Initiatives
116. Maddy Crowther, Co-Executive Director, Waging Peace
117. Laura Kyrke-Smith, Executive Director, International Rescue Committee UK
118. Eleanor Brown, CEO, CARAS Jane Lees, CEO, Communityworks
119. Jo Benefield, Campaign Coordinator, Bristol Defend the Asylum Seekers Campaign
120. Nicola David, Founder, One Life to Live
121. Chris Rose, Chair, Craven District of Sanctuary
122. Ben Gilchrist, Chief Executive, Caritas Shrewsbury
123. Skipton Refugee Support Group
124. Ailsa Dunn Secretary to Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for refugees
125. Revd Canon Helen Cameron, Moderator, Free Churches Group
126. Zita Holbourne, BARAC UK
127. Angie Pedley, Treasurer, Settle Area Refugee Support
128. Rosie MacPherson, Artistic Director and Joint CEO, Stand and Be Counted Theatre
129. Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, CEO, Surviving Economic Abuse
130. Astrid Laich, Secretary, Bournville Amnesty
131. Kush Chottera, CEO, Europia
132. Jeremy Thompson, Manager, Restore – a project of Birmingham Churches Together
133. Anna Pincus, Director, Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
134. Tess Berry-Hart, Director, Citizens of the World Choir
135. Georgina Fletcher, Chief Executive, Regional Refugee Forum North East
136. Zlakha Ahmed, Chief Executive, Apna Haq
137. Refugee and Migrant Partner Lead, Sector 3
138. Mike Wild, Chief Executive, Macc
139. Christopher Desira, Director, Seraphus
140. Amanda Church-Mcfarlane, Co-CEO, Abigail Housing
141. Professor Jenny Phillimore, Institute for Research into Superdiversity, University of Birmingham
142. Revd. Ian Rutherford, City Centre Minister, Methodist Central Hall Manchester
143. District Ecumenical Officer, Greater Manchester Churches Together
144. Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain
145. Martin Drewry, CEO, Health Poverty Action
146. Mick Taylor, Project Coordinator, Support for Wigan Arrivals Project
147. Gail Heath, CEO, Pankhurst Trust
148. Miranda Reilly, Director, AVID
149. Hayley Nelson BEM, Director, Learn for Life Enterprise
150. Vivienne Hayes, CEO, WRC
151. Vicar, St Paul’s Church
152. Richy Thompson, Director of Public Affairs and Policy, Humanists UK
153. Jan Foster, Trustee, Doncaster Conversation Club
154. Jo Todd, CEO, Respect
155. Jamie Balfour-Paul, Founder and Performing Magician, Magic for Smiles
156. Sarah Lange, Lead Coordinator, Wyre Forest Supports Asylum Seekers
157. Catherine Mackle, Director, Community Welcome cic
158. Angus Clark, Chief Executive – Herts for Refugees
159. Phil Kerton, Co-Director, Seeking Sanctuary
160. Lisa-Marie Taylor, CEO, FiLiA
161. Warren Elf MBE, Co-Chair, Faith Network for Manchester
162. Sara Alsherif, Migrant Digital Justice Programme Manager, Open Rights group
163. Charlie Zosseder, Director, Samphire
164. Martin Cosarinsky Campos, Managing Director, Breadwinners
165. Tom Cheesman, Trustee, Swansea Asylum Seekers Support
166. Sanchita Hosali, CEO, British Institute of Human Rights
167. Nathan D Ndlovu, Chairman, CARAG
168. Kevin Hanratty, Director, Northern Ireland Human Rights Consortium
169. Ian Hodson, National President, BFAWU
170. Mauricio Silva – Inter-Religious Coordinator, Columbans in Britain
171. Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary, Churches Together in England
172. Joan Hoult, CEO, Walking With in North Tyneside
173. Johannah Dyer, Chair, Bromsgrove and District Asylum Seeker Support
174. Patrick O’Dowd, Director, Caritas Diocese of Salford
175. Dr Pat Bond, Chair, New to the UK, North Shields
176. Barbara Hungin, Chair of Trustees, Justice First
177. Programme Development Director, Railway Children
178. Jabbar Hasan, Director, Iraqi Association
179. Paul Hook, Director, Asylum Matters
180. Revd Jide Macaulay, Founder & CEO House of Rainbow CIC
181. Stephanie Neville, Project Manager
182. Dr Ruvi Ziegler, Chair,  New Europeans UK
183. Robert Hooper, Pastor, Oasis church
184. Abigail Martin, Manager, St Chad’s Sanctuary
185. Darren Knight, Chief Executive, George House Trust
186. Toni Soni, Centre Director, Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre
187. Imogen McIntosh, Aid Box Community
188. Victoria Marks, Director, Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)
189. Manuchehr Maleki, Co-Chair, SYMAAG
190. Stuart Crosthwaite, Secretary, SYMAAG
191. The Revd Steve Faber, Moderator, URC West Midlands Synod
192. Misak Ohanian, CEO, Centre for Armenian Information and Advice
193. Stan Beneš, Managing Director, Opora
194. M Fahim, Manager, Afghan community and welfare centre
195. Dr Paul Martin OBE, LGBT Foundation
196. Nazee Akbari, CEO, New Citizens’ Gateway
197. Rebecca Stevenson – Read – Centre Manager, St Vincent’s Centre Newcastle upon Tyne
198. Zoe Gardner, National Committee, Another Europe is Possible
199. Nicholas Prescott, Project Manager, Fallowfield & Withington Foodbank
200. Seana Roberts, Manager, Merseyside Refugee Support Network
201. Seana Roberts, Administrator, Liverpool City of Sanctuary
202. Rabbi Warren Elf MBE, Rabbi, Southend and District Reform Synagogue
203. Ros Holland, Chief Exec, Boaz Trust
204. Nick Beales, RAMFEL
205. Lara Bundock, CEO, Snowdrop Project
206. Andrea Cleaver, CEO, Welsh Refugee Council
207. Ailsa MacKenzie, Chief Officer, The Pyramid at Anderston
208. Rachel Wing, Treasurer/Co Ordinator, Refugee and Asylum Seeker Project, Stockton on Tees
209. David Weaver, Chair, Operation Black Vote
210. Lee Jasper, Co-founder, Blaksox
211. Efi Stathopoulou, Programmes Manager, Refugee Legal Support
212. Vicar, St Paul’s Church Birmingham
213. Kat Lorenz, Director, Asylum Support Appeals Project
214. Denise McDowell, CEO, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
215. Elham Kashefi, Tara Centre
216. Maria Brul, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Children and Families Across Borders
217. Katie Morrison, CEO, Safe Passage
218. Nazek Ramadan, Migrant Voice, Director
219. Daniel Sohege, Director, Stand For All
220. Stephanie Draper, Chief Executive, Bond
221. Revd Kate Gray, The United Reformed Church, Wythenshawe
222. Paddy Kelly, Director, Children’s Law Centre
223. Clare Moody, Joint CEO, Equally Ours
224. Sampson Low, Head of Policy, UNISON
225. Frank Parnham, Secretary, Barnsley Borough City of Sanctuary
226. Salma Ravat, CEO, One Roof Leicester
227. Dr Sarah Hughes, Chief Executive, Mind
228. Yvonne Rendell, Chair, Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees
229. Karen Parry, Chief Executive, Inclusion North
230. Christine Rose Chair of the Core Group,Craven District of Sanctuary
231. Beatrice Giaquinto, Director, Nottingham Arimathea Trust
232. Gwen Hines, Chief Executive, Save the Children
233. Jennifer Nadel and Matt Hawkins, Co-Directors, Compassion in Politics
234. Andrew Belfield, Mosaic Justice Network
235. Kamran Mallick, CEO, Disability Rights UK
236. Liz Millman, North Wales Jamaica Society
237. Liz Millman, Learning Links International CIC
238. Garrick Prayogg project Manager, Cultural Diversity Network
239. Rev. Dr. Joseph D Cortis coordinator of Caritas Leeds
240. Zoe Bantleman, Legal Director, Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)
241. CEO, Cast – Communities and Sanctuary Seekers Together
242. Jane Grimshaw, Convener, Hastings Supports Refugees
243. Sarah Hayes, Vicar, St Germains Church Birmingham
244. Polly Gifford, Co-Chair, Hastings Community of Sanctuary
245. Ernie Whalley, Chair, Reach group, New North Road Baptist Church, Huddersfield
246. Mojgan Bakhtiary, Development Manager, Taban
247. Louise King, Director, Children’s Rights Alliance for England
248. Alison Page, Chief Executive, Salford CVS
249. Jo Walby, Chief Executive Officer, Salford CVS
250. Aleema Shivji, Chief Impact Officer, Oxfam GB
251. Gill Kelly, Chair, Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary
252. Rose Caldwell, CEO, Plan International UK
253. Frank Forman, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
254. Alex, General Advice Coordinator, Manchester Refugee Support Network
255. Revd Sarah Jemison (Chair of Trustees), BEACON (Bradford Ecumenical Asylum Concern)
256. Pauline Mary Ruth. Chair of Trustees. Trinity Safe Space Charity
257. Abi Brunswick, Director, Project 17
258. Dr Arabella Hamilton, Lay Chair of the Parochial Church Council
259. Sian Summers-Rees, Chief Officer, City of Sanctuary UK
260. Amy Lythgoe, Trustee, Together Now
261. Miriam Turner and Hugh Knowles, Co-Executive Directors, Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and
262. Northern Ireland)
263. Mark Russell, CEO, The Children’s Society
264. Humma Nizami, Executive Director, Race Equality Network
265. Jonathan Senker, CEO, VoiceAbility
266. Joanna Ewart-James, Executive Director, Freedom United
267. Michael Mark, Trustee, The Cotton Tree Trust
268. Areeba Hamid, Co-Executive Director, Greenpeace UK
269. Andreea Dumitrache, Interim Co-CEO, the3million
270. Stephanie Grimshaw, Head of Public Affairs and Policy, Welsh Women’s Aid
271. Saqib Deshmukh, Interim Chief Executive, AYJ
272. Joseph Kiwango, Manager, Revive
273. Tufail Hussain, UK Director, Islamic Relief
274. Eleni Venaki, Director, The Comfrey Project
275. Amanda Littlewood, Refugees & Mentors CIC
276. Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive, Scottish Refugee Council
277. Úna Boyd, Committee on the Administration of Justice
278. Eleonora Fais, Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group Coordinator, ATMG
279. Rev Lynn Green, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain
280. Emma Hawthorne, Chair, BIRCH
281. Simon Tyler, Executive Director, Doctors of the World UK
282. Laura, Director, Horton Community Farm
283. Phil Davis, Director, Hope Projects
284. Sally Hyman, founder and CEO, CRIBS International
285. Mark Courtice (Chair), Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group
286. Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT Teachers’ Union
287. Trustee, Louth Churches for Refugees
288. Jessica Davidson-Egan, Director, Refugee Welcome Homes
289. Andrew Evans, CEO, METRO Charitye
290. Nick Harborne, CEO, Refugee Support Group
291. Lorie Holliday, Director, Kanlungan Filipino Consortium
292. Jasmine O’Connor, CEO, Anti-Slavery International
293. Patricia Durr, Chief Executive Officer, ECPAT UK
294. Pinar Aksu, Maryhill Integration Network
295. The Border Criminologies Network
296. Carolyne Willow, Director, Article 39
297. Rabbi David Mason, Executive Director, HIAS+JCORE
298. Farah Nazeer, CEO, Women’s Aid