A protest against the government's decision to send asylum seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda is being held in the city on Saturday. Members of the public will write messages on paper aeroplanes that will later be presented to Bristol MPs.
It is a protest against the Rwanda flights, a policy set to start in June which has been criticised by charities and human rights organisations, including the United Nations. No flights have yet taken off.
This Saturday, heart-shaped paper aeroplanes will be flown across Cascade Steps and then sent to MPs across Bristol, urging them to put pressure on the Prime Minister Liz Truss to halt the plans.
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Jo Benefield, from organiser Bristol Defend Asylum Seekers Campaign, said: “This will be Bristol’s part in the national action and the idea is to fill the skies with hope, to stop the flights to Rwanda. It’s to show that what the government wants to do, doesn’t represent what people want to do. Together with Refugees have timed this action which goes on until November 9 to lobby party conferences. We are holding our protest on Saturday to inform people in Bristol what is being done in their name.
“The law has been passed because there’s a Tory majority in Parliament but we are saying, ‘not in our name’. In June trafficking and torture victims were put on a plane to Rwanda but because the public challenged it, it didn’t go ahead, so we just have to keep up the awareness and resistance.
The Bristol protest will take place at the Cascade Steps (opposite the Radisson Hotel) from noon to 1pm.
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