Green Party wins praise from The Sanctuary Pledge
15 April 2010
Any Green MPs who get elected on 6 May will stand firmly on the side of those seeking sanctuary, and of anyone else suffering oppression, says Spencer Fitz-Gibbon
"Britain has a proud history of providing sanctuary to people fleeing from persecution and tyranny. That tradition is under threat. Help us to rebuild support for sanctuary..."
Those could have been the words of the Green Party. They are in fact the words of the organisers of The Sanctuary Pledge - a group of 18 faith organisations claiming a UK membership of 7 million people (1).
The Sanctuary Pledge website says:
"Our nation provided sanctuary to Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in 17th century France, Jews fleeing the Nazi regime in the 1930s, Ugandan Asians forced out by Idi Amin in the 1970s, Bosnians escaping ethnic cleansing in the 1990s and Zimbabweans seeking a safe haven today. Our tradition of providing sanctuary is part of what makes Britain great.
"That tradition is under threat.
"In recent years the rise of extremist politics, media scare stories, and high profile failings by the Home Office have led to this issue becoming a political football.
"Yet over two-thirds of the public still think it is important that the UK provides sanctuary to people fleeing persecution. We agree. We believe that sanctuary should not just be part of the UK’s history. It should be part of our future too."
Of course the Green Party shares that commitment - and not as a tactical response to a pressure group's lobbying. Principles of social justice, at both local and global levels, have been part of the Green Party's philosophy since the beginning, and doubtless always will be. Like the commitment to sustainability, social justice is part of the Green Party's political alpha and omega.
Well, on Wednesday The Sanctuary Pledge Blog had kind things to say about the Liberal Democrats, who had included in this year's manifesto a commitment to "end the detention of children in immigration detention centres." We Greens have no qualms about congratulating other parties who share a policy with us, and of course the Green Party has always been opposed to the detention of children in this way. Or the detention of anyone seeking sanctuary, for that matter, unless there are "most exceptional circumstances" (2).
Then on Thursday The Sanctuary Pledge Blog had kind things to say about the Green Party (3):
"... the Green Party win the prize for the commitment to end child detention most in line with the Sanctuary Pledge.
"Check out the positive use of language in their manifesto which came out earlier this week: 'Those seeking sanctuary should not be detained, and in particular the administrative detention of children is unacceptable and should cease immediately.'"
Thank you, The Sanctuary Pledge, for those kind words, and much more importantly, on the work you have done and are doing to hold politicians to account on this vital matter of social justice. Rest assured - bearing in mind that YouGov, ICM and even Betfair have predicted a Green Party breakthrough this time - any Green MPs who get elected on 6 May will stand firmly on the side of those seeking sanctuary, and of anyone else suffering oppression.
Notes
1. http://sanctuarypledge.org.uk/cgi-bin/download.cgi.
2. For example: "No asylum-seeker should be held in detention other than in the most exceptional circumstances." http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/downloads/mfssra.pdf.
3. http://sanctuarypledge.blogspot.com/2010/04/another-manifesto-success-as-greens.html.
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