Monitoring Desk
LONDON: In an open letter addressed to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, charities have urged the UK government to do more to address far-right Islamophobia and tackle violence against asylum seekers.
The open letter maintains that the government has “failed to properly address the dangers posed by Islamophobia and racism against racialized communities and vulnerable people seeking protection in the UK,” The Guardian reported.
Rights groups and charities, including the Community Policy Form, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, and the Refugee Council, wrote the letter.
The letter added: “With ministers continuing to promote incendiary language labeling asylum seekers with stereotypes and painting them as unworthy of the sanctuary, there must be accountability for their role in tacitly endorsing the threats that asylum seekers face now.y
“As such, the Britain government must immediately disown such language and pledge to tackle far-right rhetoric inciting hatred against minority groups.”
The warning comes amid the release of the Shawcross report into the anti-extremism Prevent program of the government. The inquiry maintained that the program had failed to focus on increasing Islamist extremism, instead unduly targeting the far right.
Charities ask UK govt to reject Shawcross report
However, the letter asked the government to reject the Shawcross report’s findings, arguing that they were based on “incomplete and skewed evidence to minimize the threat of the far right.”
The letter warns that the government must also clamp down on far-right violence against asylum-seekers, highlighting a recent incident in which demonstrators in the United Kingdom staged a protest outside a local hotel that was housing new arrivals.
The protest in Knowsley descended into a violent riot, with several people arrested.
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“The response to the violence and terrorizing refugees has highlighted the normalized far-right hatred in the UK,” the letter argued.
The letter stated that the government should “outline a robust strategy to deal with far-right ideologies,” warning authority figures to “distance themselves from the statements of government ministers normalizing and mainstreaming far-right hatred against minority groups.”
