"An Island of Strangers,"
Prime Minister, Keir Starmer

As a UK citizen who has lived here for 16 years, I was shocked to hear Sir Keir Starmer pointedly call people like me “strangers.” I have always believed I lived in a country where we are all different, yet familiar. We are all human beings.

 

Then I turn on my TV to hear the leader of this country describe me, and the millions like me, as "strangers", as if we're from another planet.

This was not a slip of the tongue; it was a signal. A green light to the far right, who have waited for years to push their agenda. More painful still is to see it coming, not from the Conservatives, but from Labour, a party built on trade unionism, workers’ rights, and social justice. He may regret his words in public now, but this shift was no accident. It was intentional.

We are witnessing a plan to reshape a cosmopolitan society by dividing people

not by citizenship, but by race.

 

The government has fed far-right anger until it spilled out into the streets. They wait for an incident they can use, something tragic, that can be pinned on migrants to justify harsher policies.

 

They think they have succeeded, but they underestimate the strength of people pushed to the edge by austerity and inequality, who see the hypocrisy, inhumanity and the injustice on display, and are ready to push back.

Today the attack is on migrants; tomorrow it will be on anyone fighting for their basic human rights. Capitalism, racism, all the 'isms are fuelling this rise in fascism across the world. United, we can defend migrants, protect refugees, protect human rights for all, and demand a system that uses its resources for people, not war. Only together can we build a country where everyone can live and rebuild their lives side by side.

Long Live Human Rights!

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Halaleh Taheri, Executive Director and Founder of MEWSo