"They are dividing a society. They are making us feel like refugees are the scum"

The government’s attempts to get the controversial Rwanda scheme off the ground have been dominating the news cycle this week. As such, it was a major topic of debate on this week’s edition of the BBC‘s flagship political debate show Question Time.

Hashi Mohamed – a barrister and author – appeared on the show, which was broadcast from Peterborough. During the show, he condemned the government’s Rwanda scheme in response to a question from the audience which asked: ‘Is the Rwanda plan worth all the money, time and resignations?’

Mohamed began his response by saying: “First things first, it’s important to acknowledge that people are really concerned about the boat crossings and so many people are dying and something has to be done. I think any rational person agrees on that level.”

He then went on to point out that a similar scheme to that proposed by the Tories has been in place between the Israeli and Rwandan governments, something absent from much of the conversation about the proposed plan.

Mohamed said: “Two years ago, I travelled to Dresden, the German town, and I met an Eritrean man who had been deported from Israel to Rwanda. He’d been paid to go to Rwanda. Rwanda had a reciprocal arrangement with Israel to take refugees.

“When he got there, the Rwandans said: ‘You don’t need to stay. There’s the door.’ And he used the money that he was given to make his way back – that treacherous journey – and he made his way to Dresden where he sought asylum again.

“The Supreme Court in Israel struck down that law. And when we got to our Supreme Court, there’s a passage by our learned judges where they said the Home Office hadn’t even assessed the Israel-Rwanda policy before they decided to adopt it.

“So we know it’s not going to work. It’s unviable. It’s expensive. And the only person it’s working for is the Rwandans, because they won’t give us a penny back.”

Following this, Mohamed went on to criticise the government for its actions and rhetoric surrounding the scheme and the Rwanda Bill making its way through parliament at the moment.

He said: “What we’re seeing right now, instead of them actually dealing with this properly, and actually having some real ideas – do you know what they’re doing? They’re attacking our judges. They’re attacking our rule of law. They are dividing a society. They are making us feel like refugees are the scum and who are foreign. They refer to the European courts that we are a part of, that have United Kingdom judges, as ‘foreign courts’.

“It’s not only just disgusting […] it’s unconscionable. The rhetoric is poison. And we have to acknowledge that.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

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