Protesters take to Norwich streets in rally against the government’s controversial Borders bill

Photo: Unsplash

Norwich activists came together on Saturday (5th February) to rally against the government’s new Nationality and Borders Bill.

The protest, which was attended by approximately 200 people, started off at the city hall before making its way down Magdalene Street, and ending up outside the office of Norwich North Conservative MP Chloe Smith.

The controversial Bill, which is still being debated in the House of Lords, allows the government to remove someone’s citizenship without needing to tell them.

The Bill has sparked fears amongst many protesters that the government could treat ethnic minorities differently to white Britons for committing the same crime.

One of the activist groups organising the protest was ‘XR Norwich’ (Extinction Rebellion). The group took to Twitter to express their anger at the new bill, saying they saw it as “criminalis[ing] refugees and asylum seekers.”

Clive Lewis, Norwich South’s Labour MP, was in attendance at the demonstration and called the bill “the most draconian piece of legislation I’ve ever seen” and “an attack on human rights”.

Photo: Unsplash

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has also expressed its concerns. On their website they state how they believe the Bill “would penalise most refugees seeking asylum in the country”. They go on to say that it creates “an asylum model that undermines established international refugee protection rules and practices.”

However, the Home Secretary Priti Patel has reassured people that the law would only be used in the most “exceptional circumstances” to deal with individuals who present the most danger to the country.