A cruel new law is scapegoating refugees for UK’s harmful border policies

Eight years ago, Mohammed Tajik watched as members of the Taliban murdered his father and brother. Tajik’s father owned a restaurant, and the Taliban had demanded he poison visiting soldiers. He refused and was killed.

Soon after their deaths, Tajik made the difficult decision to leave his wife and child and flee Afghanistan, fearing he, too, would be killed if he stayed. 

Alnour Ali was also fearing for his life when he fled Sudan in 2019. Ali’s village had just been destroyed in the war, which has seen ethnically targeted attacks, sexual violence and enforced disappearance of non-Arabs. While in Libya, Ali was twice imprisoned by militia and tortured.