Updated 19 March 2023 with photos from the day:
Guardian: Protests against illegal migration bill held in London, Glasgow and Cardiff
Thousands attended march through capital to condemn home secretary’s legislation, say organisers
Protesters have marched against the government’s illegal migration bill in cities across the UK on Saturday, with organisers claiming thousands had attended.
Demonstrators carried signs and banners, some reading “no human is illegal”, as they matched towards Downing Street in central London.
Organisers Stand Up To Racism and the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) also held protests in Glasgow and Cardiff against racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, fascism and the far right.
The legislation introduced by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, means that refugees who arrive in the UK through unauthorised means, such as crossing the Channel in a boat, will have their asylum claims deemed inadmissible.
This event will put thousands of anti-racists, trade unionists, students and campaigners on the streets to say #RefugeesWelcome and #NeverAgain.
Assemble 12 noon: Portland Place, London W1A 1AA – March off 1pm to Downing Street for rally
Suella Braverman’s talk of an ‘invasion’ of Southern England, the Rwanda plan to deport asylum seekers and the Nationality and Borders Act (NABA) are all part of the brutal racist hostile environment for refugees and migrants. It is targeting the most vulnerable and costing many lives. In Britain the Rishi Sunak government is attempting to use racism to generate the politics of divide and rule in our communities and make ordinary people pay for the cost of living crisis. More deaths in the Channel have shown us once again the reality of these policies in practice.
The government denies the existence of institutional racism – despite massively disproportionate deaths in black communities during the pandemic, ongoing deaths in police custody, racist stop and search and discrimination across society.
Internationally we are seeing the growth of the racist and fascist right. Fascists such as Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy and the Sweden Democrats are in government. In the UK fascist groups, encouraged by the Tories statements, rioted in Knowsley and are intimidating asylum seekers in hotel accommodation across the UK. We need to mobilise the antiracist and anti-fascist majority.
Join us on the streets as part of an International Day of Action to mark UN anti-racism day.
Assemble 12 noon: Portland Place, London W1A 1AA – March off 1pm to Downing Street for rally
From our signatory organisation: https://standuptoracism.org.uk/resist-racism/