According to the British newspaper “The Guardian”, the Sudanese, whose country is in the grip of an armed conflict, did not have the possibility of obtaining a visa for Great Britain, “contrary to what happened with those who fled the war in Ukraine”.
According to the newspaper, it “has not provided safe and legal means to help Sudanese refugees flee, and there is no indication of announcing a plan to deal with the repercussions of the conflict there”.
By contrast, Britain has issued around 300,000 visas to Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country, of which around 193,000 were issued in March 2022, weeks after the conflict began.
Subsequently, tens of thousands of visas were granted to Ukrainians wishing to join their relatives in Britain.
What have refugee rights advocates said?
• Caitlin Boswell, director of policy and advocacy at the Joint Council for the Care of Migrants in Britain, said: “The racism of the UK immigration system could not be more evident, with this government develops policies affecting those seeking safety along strict racial lines.”
• She continued in statements published by the ‘Guardian’: ‘At the same time ministers are shamelessly using inflammatory language and far-right language, which stirs up hatred towards immigrants of colour.’
• In the same context, Fiza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants’ Rights Network, said: “The blatant refusal to provide asylum and security to Sudanese refugees from white Ukrainians has strongly exposed the shameless racist thinking at the heart of the immigration legislation. They created a racist refugee system.”
• She continued: “Clearly any trace of sympathy for black refugees in a serious and genuine way has disappeared.
• Raja Ahmed, from the Sudanese Community and Information Center based in London, said: “We are treated differently from Ukrainians. Color and ethnicity should not matter in times of war. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to answer: What is the difference between a Ukrainian refugee and a Sudanese refugee? »
• Britain’s Refugee Council believes the Home Office has the capacity to help more Sudanese, but this has been “denied so far”.
• Council Chief Executive Enver Solomon added: “The Home Office has significant discretion which it can use to grant visas, particularly in response to exceptional circumstances, but has decided to do not do it.”
• Solomon explained: “We must prioritize creating safe outlets for refugees, just as we took in refugees from Ukraine when Russia attacked last year.
The ‘Guardian’ quoted a statement from a government spokesperson, in which he said: ‘It is wrong to compare vulnerable groups with each other. The prevention of a humanitarian emergency in Sudan is our goal. NOW”.
“Alongside evacuation efforts in the UK, we are working with international partners and the UN to end the fighting. We have no intention of relocating to Sudan,” the spokesman continued.
Britain has so far carried around 2,300 people on flights from Sudan, including citizens and their families, Sudanese and other nationalities, but no further flights are planned.
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