Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.66.4
Object Name
postcard
Title
'Help child refugees reunite with their families. Amnesty International'
People
Amnesty International
Description
A grey postcard with white and yellow writing on it. In the bottom left corner are green figures of a man and woman, with a child figure in the top right corner, separated by the text 'Help child refugees reunite with their families'. The Amnesty International logo is in the bottom right corner.
This postcard was created as part of a campaign by the charity Amnesty International which campaigns globally on human rights issues. The back is pre-filled and addressed to the Minister for Immigration for members of the public to send back to Amnesty so they could mass deliver them. The message on the card demands that the government 'allow children recognised as refugees in the UK the right to be reunited with their families', as a change to existing rules which deny unaccompanied child refugees the right to bring their parents or siblings to join them in the UK after they have been granted refugee status.
Refugee status is granted after government assessors have determined that the person has been forced to flee their home country due to war, violence or persecution and they cannot return there because it is unsafe. The process to be recognised as a refugee is long and difficult and requires the person to supply proof of persecution. Amnesty International's argument is that children who have been deemed refugees should have the right to live with their immediate family, in their new country, and that keeping them alone harms the child's welfare and safety. The UK's Hostile Environment policies for migration do not allow for this.
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