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The book, by Edie Friedman
and Reva Klein, published by the British Library, is a layperson's guide to
asylum. It was partly inspired by the authors' own family histories which,
Helena Kennedy said, gave them a "clarity of vision" on the issue.
Reading the book, she said,
would at times make you feel proud of being British, and sometimes ashamed.
Earlier that day she had been in court, representing an asylum seeker
whose claim had been refused despite his horrific and well-documented
experience of persecution and torture. She
said there was undoubtedly a culture of disbelief in the system.
"It
was a great shame ... that we started using the term 'asylum seeker' as a
term of abuse. It was an idea put forward in a very calculated way by the
tabloid media but our Government didn't challenge it. On many ways we're
still on the run from that attitude.
"Anyone
who cares about good society believes that a civilised society has to afford a
sanctuary for those who are fleeing persecution. Our retreat from that is a
measure of how we're doing as human beings, as people who believe in human
rights. Retreat is something we should be ashamed of."
Referring to the museum setting, former home
of the famous refugee who fled Nazi-occupied
Vienna
, she said, "We need our children to know the stories and why human rights and
the Conventions we have are so important."
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