Don’t banish asylum seekers to Rwanda, Jewish community urges Home Secretary
More than 250 members of the Jewish community, including 29 Liberal, Masorti, Reform and United Synagogue rabbis, have signed an open letter to the Home Secretary, compelling the government to abandon plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The letter, co-ordinated by the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), was sent ahead of a series of important votes on the Nationality and Borders Bill in the House of Commons this afternoon (20th April), where MPs have the chance to reject cruel proposals to offshore refugees.
Condemning the government’s plans, the signatories declare that such proposals “fly in the face of Jewish values, and… cannot be in our community’s name.”
And with the plans announced on the eve of Passover last week, a festival where the Jewish community celebrates its journey to safety from Egypt, the letter emphasizes that it “is deeply unsettling that the government is seeking to deprive the opportunity of freedom to those fleeing modern day tyrants”.
Highlighting how the Jewish community has a “long history of seeking refuge”, the signatories also urge the Home Secretary to learn from the “grave error” and “historic mistake” of the overseas internment of Jewish refugees during the Second World War.
Instead, the letter calls for the government to “reflect on its moral duty and protect, not punish, those fleeing conflict and persecution today”, and to uphold international refugee law.
And in contrast to the Home Secretary’s claims that the plans critics “fail to offer their own solutions”, the signatories state that “if your government is serious about preventing small boat crossings, it must instead act and introduce new safe routes to sanctuary in the UK, which are accessible to all refugee groups.”
Rabbis signing the letter included Rabbi David Mason, Muswell Hill Synagogue, Rabbi Rene Pfertzel, co-chair of the Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors, Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick, Convenor of Reform Judaism’s Beit Din and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK. Please see below for the full text of the statement and list of signatories.
Dr Edie Friedman, Executive Director at the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), said: “Recent government attacks on religious leaders, who have rightly condemned these unethical plans, are utterly shameful and appalling.
Faith leaders and communities across the country have made it clear that these unconscionable proposals deeply contravene our values, and cannot be in our name. The government must listen, rethink, and ensure all those seeking safety in the UK are treated with dignity and respect.
None of us want to see refugees forced into taking dangerous journeys across the Channel. But plans to banish vulnerable people to Rwanda cannot be the answer. Instead, the government must urgently introduce new routes to safety, and scrap clauses in the shameful Nationality and Borders Bill which would criminalize and penalize refugees.”
The full text of the open letter can be found below:
Dear Home Secretary, Re: Appalling plans to offshore refugees: Don’t banish asylum seekers to Rwanda As members of the British Jewish community, we are writing to express our profound dismay at deeply unethical plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for offshore processing. It is unconscionable that the UK government is seeking to replicate Australia’s disastrous offshoring system in Rwanda, a country frequently condemned for its appalling human rights record. Such a policy flies in the face of Jewish values, and would be a cruel, moral failure to those in urgent need of protections. This appalling abdication of responsibility cannot be in our community’s name. We are particularly disturbed that such plans have been announced shortly before our community celebrates Passover, a festival where Jews recall our journey to safety from Egypt. As we prepare to read the story of Exodus, it is deeply unsettling that the government is seeking to deprive the opportunity of freedom to those fleeing modern day tyrants. Such proposals also bring to mind unpleasant memories of the overseas internment of Jewish refugees in the Second World War. This policy was a grave error: we urge the government to learn from this historic mistake, uphold international refugee law and ensure all those seeking safety in the UK are treated with dignity and respect. None of us want to see refugees forced into taking dangerous journeys across the Channel. But plans to banish vulnerable people to Rwanda cannot be the answer. If your government is serious about preventing small boat crossings, it must instead act and introduce new safe routes to sanctuary in the UK, which are accessible to all refugee groups. And it should scrap clauses in the shameful Nationality and Borders Bill which would criminalize and penalize refugees. As members of a community with a long history of seeking refuge, we urge the government to withdraw these plans, reflect on its moral duty and protect, not punish, those fleeing conflict and persecution today. Yours sincerely,
Ruth Abraham
Max Adam
Jennifer Aizenberg
Bil Al
Len Alden
Mark Andrews
Ann Angel
Janice Arenstein
Alan Arnstein
Emma Aynsley
Patrick Banks
Helen Banks
Julia Bard
Ido Ben-Shaul
Daniel Bernstein Vulkan
James Bingham
Jonathan Black
Matt Black
Pamela Blakelock
Hannah Bloom
Viv Bogen
Alice Bondi
Rabbi Barbara Borts
Alexandra Boyd
Stuart Brown
Sally Brown
Rabbi Janet Burden
Josephine Burton
Ann Butterworth
Mike Cahill
John Charap
Maayan Cohen
Robert Cohen
Lucille Cohen
Laura Cohn
Andrew Colman
Rabbi Howard Cooper
Sara Cooper
Nicole Crampton
Judith Cravitz
Ilana Cravitz
Peter Crome
Nathalie Dakin
Catherine Davidson
Leilah Davis
Hilary De Santos
Kira Dillon
Jan Doole
Naomi Drapkin
Jane Drapkin
Barbara Dresner
Prof Miriam Dwek
Joshua Edelman
Ros Edwards
Daniel Ehrlich
Rabbi Colin Eimer
Rabbi Warren Elf
Caroline Elton
Gene Feder
Ian Ferrie
Paul Fertig
Mark Findlay
Vivienne Fleet
Denise Fluskey
Andrew Forman
Nadia Fraga
Rabbi Adam Frankenberg
Jennifer Frazer
Sheila Freedman
Nina Freedman
Rabbi Paul Freedman
Edie Friedman
Kenny Fryde
Alan Gelfer
Sybil Gilbert
Nicole Gluckman
Martin Golding
Rabbi Naomi Goldman
Rabbi Aaron Goldstein
Stephen Goldstone
Sarah Gonshaw
Stuart Goodman
Suzy Goodwin
Mark Goodwin
David Gordon
Rabbi Jeremy Gordon
Jean-Steéphane Gourévitch
Bernard Grant
John Grayson
Matthew Greener
Benjamin Greenman
Susan Halpern
Howard Harris
Ruth Harris
Hedy Harris
Alison Harris
Jenny Henriques
Kathy Hirst
Frankie Holman
Louise Howard
Sam Hussein
Gill Hyatt
Anthony Isaacs
Anna Isaacs
Raphael Isserlin
Rabbi Margaret Jacobi
Rabbi Richard Jacobi
Laura Jacobus
Deborah Jaffe
Keith Jones
Rick Jones
Rabbi Oliver Joseph
Dan Judelson
Ann Jungman
Dr Peter Kalve FRSA
Holly Kal-Weiss
Student Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber
Jenny Kassman
Noah Katz
Leah Katz
Nicola Keller
Judith Kelman
Phil Kelvin
Bruce Kent
Leon King
Jenny King
Beth Kingsley
Maxine Klein
Rebecca Klug
Bob Knowles
Katherine Körner
Agnes Kory
Ann Kramer
Rachel Kudlick
Michael Kuhn
Jack Kushner
Tony Kushner
Sam Kushner
Rabbi Sandra Kviat
Shoshana Lavan
Renee Lavipour
Miriam Lennard
Michael Lesser
Leah Levane
Rose Levinson
Steven Levy
Jonathan Lewis
John Lipetz
Nicola Livingston
Jonathan Livingstone
Robert Lizar
Kristi Long
Stuart MacDonald
Jenny Mahimbo
Claire Mandel
Moshe Mankoff
Rabbi Natasha Mann
Barnaby Marder
Lisa Marsh
Richard Martin-Thomas
Samuel Martin-Thomas
Rabbi David Mason
Terence McGinity
Liz Mckeever
Joseph Millis
Dolf Mogendorff
Chris Mohr
Adam Morley
Sue Moss
Simon Mostyn
Rabbi Lea Muehlstein
Simon Myerson
Cllr Neil Nerva
Frances Niman
John Noble
Gabrielle Nohr
Thomas O Neill
Sylvia Oakes
Avigail Ochert
Toluwanimi Osunkoya
Margaret Owen
Gail Pearce
Tanya Pein
Norman Pein
Angela Pellow
Alex Perkin
Rabbi René Pfertzel
Judy Plaut
David Plaut
Linda Poulson
Owen Power
Charlotte Prager Williams
Carol Preece
Alison Rees
Rabbi Danny Rich
Flora Richards
Kevin Riley
Susan Robinson
Adam Rose
Joel Rosen
Michael Rosen
Ofra Rosenwasser
Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild
Michael Rubinstein
Barbara Saalfeld-Edwards
Caroline Salinger
Caroline Salinger
Joan Salter
Tasneem Samuels
Marsha Sanders
Myra Sands
Esther Saraga
Eric Schneider
Amos Schonfield
Linda Scott
Dr Malcolm Segall
David Selo
Rabbi Zahavit Shalev
Aaron Shaw
Rabbi Sybil Sheridan
David Shonfield
Danielle Simonson
Iris Singer
Ken Singer
Benjamin Smith
Janet Solomons
Tommer Spence
Bernard Spiegal
Katherine Standring
Alexis Steadman
Lawrence Stolzenberg
Jude Stratton
Paul Summerfield
Francesca Summerfield
Robert Symonds
Petra Tabaczynska
Rabbi Roni Tabick
Rabbi Jackie Tabick
Rabbi Larry Tabick
Keith Taylor
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
Louise Tolton
Kenneth Tomkins
Eva Turner
Deborah Twigger
Barend Velleman
Diamond Versi
Sandra Versi
Ruth Wacholder
Annette Wardell
Rabbi Lee Wax
Naomi Wayne
Paul Weeks
Tina Weinberg
Hannah Weisfeld
Emma Weleminsky
Linda Williams
Sue Wilson
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg
Mary Wyatt
Gillian Yudkin