Today, on Human Rights Day 2020, our friends at NACCOM are holding a day-long vigil in memory of those who have lost their lives in search of safety.
You can attend their opening and closing ceremony, share your reflections online, light a candle or just take a moment in your own time to remember all those we have lost this year.
Our community in Glasgow and across Scotland has been shaken this year by avoidable tragedies. And these traumatic losses have been felt deeply the world over. Our thoughts are with everyone still reeling from the loss of friends and family members, and with everyone who is struggling with hostile environment policies during this devastating pandemic.
Death and injustice in the asylum system has been widespread across the UK and at our border in 2020, from Channel crossings to hotel rooms, military barracks to deportation flights. Thousands of people who want to support the pandemic response are still not allowed to work, and asylum rights are under attack from every angle.
Safe to say, this has been a difficult year, and 2021 looks tough too.
So today, we digitally join arms with our friends and colleagues across the UK, to remember those who have been lost this year, to reflect on systemic injustice in our asylum system, and to remember that there are so many people across the country fighting for change.
Refugee rights are human rights. Migrant rights are human rights. In this global public health crisis, and always, we know that none of us are truly safe until we are all safe.
Join us.
#HumanRightsDay #EndDestitution
