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16th May 2006
Letter
to The Times
Re: “Refugee behind heroin trade jailed for 22 years” (16/05/06)
Dear Mr Thomson,
The Times article “Refugee behind heroin trade jailed for 22 years” (13 May 2006)
For more than a half century States like the UK have used the Refugee Convention to identify individuals in need of international protection, saving over 50 million people from persecution, torture, extra-judicial execution and other human rights abuses, while screening out many millions of non-refugees. As I write, 146 countries around the world have formally bound themselves to this agreement, which the UK played an instrumental role in drafting. Without the Refugee Convention there is no internationally accepted way to deny a asylum claim.
The Refugee Convention does not protect common criminals; it includes provisions allowing the removal of a refugee if s/he constitutes a serious prospective danger to national security or the community. Indeed, far from shielding serious criminals from prosecution or expulsion, the Convention renders possible their identification and foresees their exclusion from refugee status and protection. Naturally, this must be implemented in line with the procedural guarantees of due process of law so powerfully enshrined in the UK’s own Magna Carta.
“Quick-fix” gestures and rash actions such as withdrawing from time-honoured international instruments like the Refugee Convention may well help to distract the public’s attention, but will do nothing to enhance international respect for human rights nor the stature of the United Kingdom.
Yours Sincerely,
Bemma Donkoh
Representative to the United Kingdom
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