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You can stop the Rwanda raids. Here’s how

As people face raids and deportation to Rwanda this week – we must be there for them, like the UK was there for me

By Zrinka Bralo
You can stop the Rwanda raids. Here’s how
Local community surround immigration van in Glasgow, Scotland in May 2021 | Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
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When I first arrived in London from Sarajevo in 1993, it was hard to be a refugee. I was refused full protection in the UK despite the genocide happening in my country. But in many ways, things were better than today. 

I was able to work and study, and I had a right to appeal my refusal and access to good, free legal advice. I could see a doctor when I needed one. I was able to build community and to some extent retain my dignity. 

For people in a similar position today as I was 30 years ago, life has been made unbearable. From Labour's Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to this government's raft of inhumane laws for asylum seekers – culminating in the Safety of Rwanda Act – destitution, isolation and deportation have been normalised.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0