Refugee day

Today I put together a newsletter for Nicras, the agency serving refugees in Northern Ireland. I trimmed 11 pages of copy provided to me down to seven pithy pages. I think Northern Ireland and England/Wales (but not Scotland) have the same approach. Deny asylum to most applicants, which means they can no longer access benefits, but don’t enforce deportation. So a lot of people depend on organisations such as Nicras to access housing, food, and ESL classes.

I also went to a lecture at Queen’s on Europe’s approach to immigration and asylum and how woefully inadequate it is. Some members of the EU are putting up walls and aggressively evicting immigrants. Poland, for instance, is alarmingly xenophobic. Even countries such as Germany, which have welcomed refugees, are facing a backlash from large contingents of their citizens. The issue is wrenching for the European Union, which prides itself as a world leader in humanitarian law and civil liberties.

Apropos of nothing, here’s a random shot from this week of Queen Victoria in front of Belfast city hall:

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