Sheffield Green Councillors have called for an end to divisive rhetoric about asylum seekers by mainstream politicians to stop the racist violence we have seen on the streets of many towns and cities in the country.
A motion that will be heard at Sheffield’s next Council meeting from the Green Group says that the recent violence and intimidation by racist rioters had terrified many people of colour, especially women. It has made people feel unsafe in their home city. It goes on to say that the threat of serious violence impacted negatively on businesses in the local economy with many Sheffield businesses shutting up shop for fear of property damage and looting.
Greens have asked for the recommendations of the Khan Review into Social Cohesion to be implemented in full. Dame Sara Khan, a former independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience was commissioned by the Conservative Prime Minister to address some of the significant issues with social cohesion in our communities. She concluded that successive governments have failed the British people and left local authorities struggling to deal with extremist challenges; (1)
Green Councillor Angela Argenzio, who is herself a migrant from Italy said,
“ mainstream politicians and media have fuelled the recent violence and the ‘Stop the Boats’ narrative has contributed to division and has unfairly stigmatised migrants and asylum seekers;
“We have got to change the narrative on asylum seekers and refugees and recognise that migrants have always contributed to our society as workers, taxpayers and citizens and that segregation of asylum-seekers into different systems for homelessness, destitution and work creates further division and a lack of cohesion in society.
Green Party Councillor Maleiki Haybe said,
“I would like to thank the people of Sheffield who turned out in their thousands to demonstrate their opposition to the racist rioters and who made clear that the majority of people did not share their poisonous opinions.
“I believe that the majority of people in Sheffield want an asylum system that is fair, well managed and humane. There have been some positive signs recently such as the scrapping of the Rwanda deportation scheme and Bibby Stockholm barge but we need to do a lot more.
“The policy of Austerity by successive Governments has fuelled resentment and is the root cause of much of the recent unrest. The underfunding of our health and care services and the lack of social housing is not the fault of refugees but of decades of under investment by successive Labour and Conservative Governments.”
References
1 – Conservatives left UK wide open to far-right violence, says former adviser | UK security and counter-terrorism | The Guardian
