Liz Truss: Calls for new Prime Minister to ‘change course’ on refugee rights

The Scottish Refugee Council has called on new Prime Minister Liz Truss to “change course” on the UK Government’s attitude on asylum.

Sabir Zazai, chief executive of the organisation, urged Ms Truss to scrap policies put in place by her predecessors, which prevent refugees from finding safety in the UK.

Policies such as moving asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda to be processed were introduced by Boris Johnson’s Government earlier this year.

Mr Zazai said: “Liz Truss moves into Downing Street at a time when the world is becoming increasingly unstable. The sad truth is that an increasing number of people are finding themselves having to flee their homes.

Sabir Zazai, chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, called for Truss to change the UK Government's course on asylum.

"The UK’s response to this cannot be to look the other way. Boris Johnson’s Government introduced legislation which amounted to this biggest threat to refugee rights we’ve seen in the UK for decades.

“We’re calling on this new Government to change course. We’re calling for them to scrap the cruel rules that make it a crime to seek asylum here without prior permission, the way the vast majority of people are forced to seek protection, and horrifying plans to send people who arrive in this way to Rwanda. We’re asking them to lift the ban on people’s right to work and to increase the tiny levels of money people waiting for asylum decisions have to live on.”

He added: “It’s not too late for the UK Government to commit to building a fair and humane asylum system that’s fit for the challenges of the world today, and of which we can all be proud.”