Scottish civil society says NO to #RightsRemovalBill
Over 130 Scottish organisations unite against the Rights Removal Bill and ask UK Government not to scrap the Human Rights Act
Today, over 130 representatives from across Scotland’s civil society have united in their condemnation of the UK Government’s Rights Removal Bill.
These organisations have asked the UK Government to reconsider this Bill and instead, consider what can be done to better protect human rights for all in Scotland and across the UK, in a statement signed by over 130 leading and grassroots women’s, children’s, refugee and trafficking, housing and homelessness and human rights organisations, and to send a clear message that the Human Rights Act must be protected.
Coordinated by Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, Amnesty International, JustRight Scotland, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), Making Rights Real, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, Church of Scotland and Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities, the statement urges decision makers to stand together to defend our common values of equality and justice, and to oppose this Rights Removal Bill.
They say that – if this Bill becomes law, it will strip rights from people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. And it will significantly dilute legal protections for everyone’s rights, whoever we are and whatever our background.
Organisations say the statement is necessary to send a clear message to the UK Government that this Bill should be reconsidered, and to the Scottish MPs who they say must act to mitigate the inevitable harms of the Bill:
“We are alarmed that the UK Government has introduced a Bill to Parliament which, if enacted, will repeal the Human Rights Act and will significantly diminish protection for human rights in law. We must act now.”
Mhairi Snowden – Director, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, said:
“There is overwhelming opposition from across Scottish civil society to this Rights Removal Bill. It is a Bill that will set human rights back, and will make it much more difficult for individuals to access justice and accountability. There is simply no reason for this Bill to go ahead, and many many reasons for it to be shelved – we urge the UK Government to think again.”