To All Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords

SAY ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ TO RACISM, FASCISM AND DISCRIMINATION in 21st century Britain.

We, the undersigned, call you to take urgent action to:

· condemn and end all forms of racism, discrimination and segregation against EU citizens living in the UK and all other persons

· end the violation of their human rights as listed below in this document

· stop fascism slipping into British politics, media and everyday life

· take immediate action to protect the rights of all people living in the United Kingdom by ratifying the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

We are now witnessing the rise of far right, nationalist and fascist movements growing into every day politics and everyday life of ordinary people; the appalling rise of a deliberate and concerted campaign by the government, the far right organisations and media against non-British EU citizens living in the UK and violation of their human rights by policies designed to intentionally segregate them from the rest of the society.

WE ARE SAYING ‘NO’ TO THIS.

We are saying ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ to racism, fascism and discrimination in any shape or form in 21st century Britain.

We are calling on you to urge the government of the United Kingdom to repeal all policies that cause economic segregation of EU citizens living in the UK and we are reminding the government of the United Kingdom about its obligation under the Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: ‘States Parties particularly condemn racial segregation and apartheid and undertake to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction’.

We are calling on you to take urgent action to ensure policies are in place to protect the lives of ordinary people from the consequences of far right nationalist and fascist agenda as in line with Article 20 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ‘Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law’.

We are calling on you to STOP taking part in the race to the right and the race to the bottom.

We are calling on you to say firmly ‘STOP’ to the far right nationalist and fascist acts and to say that it will never be tolerated in Britain.

We are calling on you to take urgent action to ensure that fascism, racism and discrimination is banned from the media and that we will never be exposed to it on a mainstream basis.

We are calling on you to stop the violation of the human rights of EU citizens living in the UK and all other persons, particularly to stop the violation of the following human rights:

· Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’

· Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to be treated in the same way, irrespective of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, property, birth or other status’

· Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to life and to live in freedom and safety’

· Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to be free from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, deportation and extradition’.

· Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘The law is the same for everyone, it should be applied in the same to all’.

· Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘No one can be detained or imprisoned unjustly or expelled from a country’.

· Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to social security’.

· Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services’.

· Article 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘No one has the right to take away any of the rights in this declaration’.

· Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: ‘An alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present Covenant may be expelled from there only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be represented for the purpose before, the competent authority or a person or persons especially designated by the competent authority’.

· Article 17 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: ‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation’.

· Article 20 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ‘Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law’.

· Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: ‘racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life’.

· Article 2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: ‘Each State Party undertakes to engage in no act or practice of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons or institutions and to en sure that all public authorities and public institutions, national and local, shall act in conformity with this obligation;

· Article 2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination continues: ‘Each State Party shall take effective measures to review governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists’.

· Article 2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination continues: ‘Each State Party shall prohibit and bring to an end, by all appropriate means, including legislation as required by circumstances, racial discrimination by any persons, group or organization’.

· Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: ‘States Parties particularly condemn racial segregation and apartheid and undertake to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction’.

· Article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: ’States Parties condemn all propaganda and all organizations which are based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons of one colour or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination

· (a) Shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another colour or ethnic origin, and also the provision of any assistance to racist activities, including the financing thereof;

· (b) Shall declare illegal and prohibit organizations, and also organized and all other propaganda activities, which promote and incite racial discrimination, and shall recognize participation in such organizations or activities as an offence punishable by law;

· (c) Shall not permit public authorities or public institutions, national or local, to promote or incite racial discrimination.’

· Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: ‘States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: (i) The rights to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, to protection against unemployment, to equal pay for equal work, to just and favourable remuneration,

· (iii) The right to housing

· (iv) The right to public health, medical care, social security and social services

· Article 16 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: ‘1. Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13’.

· Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status’.

· Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child’.

· Article 16 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation’.

· Article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; ‘States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities’.

· Article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child’.

· Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘(d) To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers’.

· Article 26 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law’.

· Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ‘States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their means, shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing’.

· Article 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: ‘States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation’.

· Article 13 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: ‘States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in other areas of economic and social life in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:

· (a) The right to family benefits’.

The UK has signed and ratified all of core treaties of the United Nations with the exception of the Migrant Workers Convention and we call you to take urgent action to ensure that the UK will ratify it as soon as possible to prevent millions of men, women and children from exploitation.

Yours sincerely,

The undersigned

CC: COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT SENT TO:

Her Majesty the Queen

United Nations institutions:

Secretary-General of the United Nations

The High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Committee Against Torture

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

European Union institutions:

The European Commission

The European Commissioner

Heads of governments of all State members of the European Union

Ambassadors to the UK of all State members of the European Union

British institutions:

Office of the Prime Minister

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Government Equalities Office

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration

All Party Parliamentary Group on Poland

All Party Parliamentary Group on Bulgaria

All Party Parliamentary Group on Germany

All Party Parliamentary Group on Romania

All Party Parliamentary Group on Bullying

All Party Parliamentary Group on Child Protection

All Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues

All Party Parliamentary Group on Equalities

All Party Parliamentary Group on European Union Referendum

All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights

All Party Parliamentary Group on Media

All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty

All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community

All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility

All Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention

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