This week’s reflection from our Chief Medical Officer is a somewhat sticky affair….
Platinum bear
I grew up mainly in England and one of my favourite childhood TV programmes was a cartoon series of sticky stories about Britain’s hairiest ever smuggler of breakfast condiments! And I wasn’t the only one to love them. Yes, Paddington Bear is dear even to the heart of Queen Elizabeth II. Recently she even invited him to Buckingham Palace for tea and marmalade….
Criminal intent
Of course the Queen should not be associating with risky people. So in deciding to issue Paddington’s invitation to afternoon tea, the safety-conscious Palace officials must have decided to overlook his criminal record:-
illegal asylum seeker: he was smuggled in on a boat from Peru,
breaker of quarantine regulations: he should have been caged for a few months until we were sure he wouldn’t re-introduce rabies to Britain,
smuggler: all that expensive marmalade!
Peru. Palace. Kigali?
So Paddington’s made it all the way from Peru to the Palace. Where’s next?
Well, he could be about to receive a second offer that he can’t refuse - a Home Office-funded trip to Rwanda to dialogue with local officials about Peru’s persecution of hairy citizens. One thing’s for sure: he’ll need to pack a very good razor because it’s a one-way ticket and the local climate necessitates daily body shaves!
But that’s okay folks. After all, regardless of whether or not he was persecuted back in Peru, Paddington is an illegal asylum seeker who has also committed crimes on our soil.
Seriously though
Quite rightly, the British government wants to act effectively to stop the ongoing horror of aggressive people smugglers herding vulnerable people to their deaths in the icy waters that surround our island nation.
And so now they have come up with a cunning plan. Under new rules due to go live this coming week, Paddington-esque figures who survive the Channel crossing may be re-routed - to Rwanda of all places. The first flight is due to leave today.
It remains to be seen just how un-British the Rwandan welcome will be. But whatever it is, it will be a far cry even from Paddington’s everyday life with the Brown Family at 32 Windsor Gardens. Concerningly, the European Union’s foray into Rwandan outsourcing has not had a good write-up, and Amnesty International is still finding much to criticise in Rwanda’s treatment of its own people.
Moreover, this is not an off-shore scheme. There will be no application to the British asylum system. No, there will just be the option of claiming Rwandan asylum.
Tortured souls
No, I do not condone breaking the law by not claiming asylum in the legally-prescribed manner.
Yes, something needs to be done to stop trafficked people drowning in the English Channel.
And yes, some of those attempting to cross the Channel are merely economic migrants waving false claims of torture & ill-treatment.
But no, let’s not forget that many others really have been tortured & ill-treated in detention settings within their countries of origin. So whichever country considers their claims needs to have detailed knowledge of torture & ill-treatment, appropriate attitude towards and facilities for both suspected & proven survivors, and cultural acceptance of the immigrants who go on to be granted refugee status.
And no, the Refugee Convention should not be quietly set adrift amongst the useless life jackets and other floating props of this packed-out comic tragedy.
British justice?
This is an important issue for me, and not just because I spend significant parts of my working life assessing complainants of torture & ill-treatment. It’s also important because I am a British citizen. Some of you readers are British citizens. And the British Government represents us, so this Rwandan scheme is being done in our name. Moreover though, the British government is accountable to us. So we should tell them what we think about this Rwandan scheme.
I’ll go first: I think it’s just incredible…
incredibly unkind,
incredibly immoral,
incredibly un-British.
So I’ve got to sign off now and email my MP.
Your turn…
Dr Rachael Pickering is our voluntary Chief Medical Officer. Her personal opinions are not necessarily the same as those of Integritas Healthcare. We are always grateful for support.