A Syrian refugee and director who became famous for working as an NHS cleaner during the pandemic said the Interior Ministry’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda were an “ethical and moral failure.”
Hassan Akkad arrived in the United Kingdom seven years ago after fleeing the war in his home country, with no choice but to trust a human smuggler.
As more and more people risk the insidious crossing of the English Channel aboard small boats, the 34-year-old says the government’s treatment of asylum seekers is “getting worse and worse”.
Read more: Why are people being sent to Rwanda and how will this work?
Now living in London, Mr Akkad has filmed all 87 days of his perilous journey from Syria and his film Exodus: Our Journey To Europe has won a Bafta and an Emmy.
Image: Director Hassan Akad temporarily changed his career to spend time disinfecting coronavirus wards at a local hospital during the pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, Mr. Acad gained viral fame when he changed careers to clean hospital wards for the NHS.
Now with a permanent residence permit in the United Kingdom, Mr. Acad continues to make films and also works as an ambassador for the organization Refugee Choose Love.
“The hostile environment continues to deteriorate”
Asked how he felt when he heard about the government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, he said it was “depressing” but not a shock.
He told Sky News: “Honestly, I did not find it surprising, because since I came to this country seven years ago, the hostile environment continues to worsen and worsen in Britain.
“Going to asylum seekers has gotten worse and worse since I came here, so I didn’t find it shocking that our government has sunk so low that it decides to send people to a country thousands of miles away and ruled by an authoritarian leader. “
Image: Hassan Akkad arrived in the United Kingdom seven years ago after fleeing the war in Syria
“Ethical and moral failure”
Mr Akkad described the plans as “an ethical and moral failure” and said they were “more expensive than accommodating people in the Ritz”.
He continued: “The reason you leave your country is that if you don’t leave, you die.
“You come here expecting to be protected and cared for only to face this new law that the government is passing.
“It’s very depressing and it doesn’t look great for Global Britain.”
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3:00 The Navy was brought under control of the English Channel
Mr Acad published a memoir after his arrival in the United Kingdom, entitled Hope Not Fear.
Mr Johnson dismissed charities’ fears that the plan was “cruel and nasty”.
He said: “This is the morally right thing to do and the humane and compassionate thing.
“We cannot allow people to continue to die at sea, paying huge sums to the pursuers of evil people who are simply exploiting their hopes and ambitions.
“We need to encourage them to take the safe and legal path if they want to come to this country.”
The Interior Ministry’s scheme to provide “safe and legal routes for asylum seekers while violating the business model of human smugglers” has been described as “inhuman” and “cruel” by human rights organizations claiming to be such an offshore strategy in Australia has failed to limit the number of arrivals.
Human rights groups say President Paul Kagame’s government in Rwanda is authoritarian, with opposition parties allowed only in the last elections in 2018.
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