Campaigners from the human rights charity Freedom from Torture have staged the arrest of Paddington bear at the station that inspired his name, to draw attention to harsh new penalties that the stowaway would face under Priti Patel’s new Nationality and Borders Bill.
The group added two new sculptures to the famous bronze statue of the bear on Platform 1, including a UK Border Force officer arresting Paddington while Mrs. Bird tries to shield the bear and prevent him from being detained.
Like Paddington, most people seeking asylum – including survivors of torture and war – are only able to reach safety in the UK by hiding in a boat or a lorry. But if this bill is passed into law, thousands of refugees will find themselves unable to access safety in the UK, separated from their families, and shipped off to offshore ‘processing facilities’ because of the way they entered the country.
Kolbassia Haoussou, Director of Survivor Empowerment at Freedom from Torture, said: “Like Paddington, I too arrived in Britain as a stowaway aboard a ship, and was able to rebuild my life after being warmly welcomed by so many people in the UK. Like many other refugees, I survived torture and arrived here vulnerable but with hope. In a way we are all Paddington.
“This new bill is cruel, and flies in the face of the care and hospitality people showed to me when I arrived here. Refugees should not be punished for doing what they need to do to get themselves and their families to safety. I urge Priti Patel, and this government, to be more like Mrs. Bird.”
The lifelike sculptures were created by refugee artist Aidan Ali Mousawi. They show what could happen to stowaways like Paddington under the government’s anti-refugee bill, currently making its way through parliament, which massively increases penalties for people taking unofficial routes to apply for asylum in the UK.
The statue was installed at 8.30am this morning by campaigners dressed as cleaning staff. A separate campaigner was on hand at all times to speak with officials and station staff. The artwork
attracted high levels of attention from commuters and tourists alike.
Top human rights lawyers have described the bill, which criminalises some people for their route to safety, as “the biggest legal assault on international refugee law ever seen in the UK”. A legal opinion commissioned by Freedom from Torture concluded that the proposed legislation breaches international and domestic law in at least 10 different ways:
https://action.freedomfromtorture.org/joint-opinion-nationality-and-borders-bill-october-2021
Aidan Ali Mousawi, the artist who created the sculpture, said: “I have created this piece to show the worsening situation for refugees, who are fleeing terrible political situations in their own countries.
They often sell everything they own so that they can travel to a democratic country to live in peace and freedom.”
Carolin Ott from law firm Leigh Day said: “The Nationality and Borders Bill raises serious concerns about compliance with international refugee law by the UK and its provisions would breach both the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Freedom from Torture recently commissioned a joint legal opinion which confirms this and outlines a number of reasons why the Bill’s proposals to criminalise asylum seekers arriving in the UK without permission is wrong as a matter of international refugee law, and why proposals to allow offshore processing of asylum claims pose serious risks, including under Article 2 ECHR (right to life) and Article 3 ECHR (which prohibits torture and inhuman and degrading treatment).”
