National News
15 MARCH 2021
Campaign Underway Against TUI Deportations Deirbhile Ní Bhranáin, Media and Development
A campaign led by SOAS Detainee Support (SDS) will be launching at the beginning of April to protest against the increased deportations carried out in the UK and assisted by airline company TUI. TUI is primarily a holiday airline, their recognisable winking logo promising happy days in the sun. According to research conducted by Corporate Watch, TUI has also become the main airline carrying out deportation flights, in collaboration with the UK Home Office’s ‘Hostile Environment’ policy. Hostile Environment is a set of government actions that aim to make life actively difficult for those in the UK that do not have documentation papers. In line with former Prime Minister Theresa May’s 2012 declaration to ‘create... a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants,’ policies have included cutting off access to the NHS, making it increasingly difficult to find rental housing, or even employment. Recent effects of this policy include the death of a Filipino immigrant due to Covid-19, as he was unwilling to go to the doctor due to fear of deportation. Within this policy lies ‘Operation Sillath’, which was established in early summer of 2020 and thought to be a strategic
governmental response to rising numbers of people crossing the Channel to the UK from France. Although deportations have been decreasing in recent years, they still remain at the heart of the UK policy for dealing with illegal immigration. In 2019, over 7,000 people were deported, but this number increases when the 11,000 ‘voluntary’ departures are included, though many report being coerced due to threats or the impacts of the ‘Hostile Environment’ policies. Deportations fell as a result of the Covid19 lockdown, with over 900 people being released from detention centres. However, the last months of 2020 saw a large spike in deportation flights, with TUI carrying out all 9 flights in the month of November. A spokesperson for the campaign commented that ‘as part of Operation Sillath, TUI has assisted the Home Office with deportation of recent arrivals to the UK via channel crossings. These deportations are set to continue.’ The widely publicised deportation flight from the UK to Jamaica on 2 December 2020, targeting many of the Windrush generation whose home has been the UK since childhood, garnered a great deal of public anger. A campaign against the flight included an open letter which called for
Grey Squirrels on the Pill Fakhriya M. Suleiman, MA Global Media and Postnational Communication In January 2021 the UK government announced that it would back new efforts to significantly curb the grey squirrel population in Britain. The plan is to distribute feeding boxes in areas with high grey squirrel numbers. In the boxes, grey squirrels will find pots with tasty hazelnut spread spiked with oral contraceptives - unbeknownst to them, of course. The birth control laced feedboxes are bespoke so that only greys can enter them. The boxes will feature ‘heavy door-hoppers’ which would prevent the smaller reds being able to open them - thus minimising the risk of them also ingesting the contraception. The grey versus red civil war amongst the squirrel population began with the introduction of greys in Britain from America in the late 19th century. The larger, American greys not only outcompete the native reds when it comes to food and habitat, but also carry the parapoxvirus. The virus poses no threat to greys, but has proven fatal for reds. Greys have displaced the native red squirrel population across most of the UK. It is estimated that greys have flourished in Britain such that their numbers are estimated at 2.7M and the population is continuing to
grow. Reds, on the other hand, are thought to be fewer than 300,000 and have been relegated to mostly living in North Wales and Scotland. The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) welcomes this new plan. The RFS cite greys as being the cause of £1.1bn worth of damage to Britain’s woodlands annually. Greys are known to strip the bark off of oak and sycamore trees - especially those between 10-50 years old, i.e the younger forest trees. This further threatens Britain’s biodiversity, as oak and sycamore are home to other native mammalian species, as well as insects and birds. The RFS, however, have also called for more robust action against the invasive greys. They argue that in areas where their numbers are especially high, ‘lethal methods of control’, such as shooting, should be employed - a suggestion animal rights activists have dubbed as inhumane. The Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith said that the government is also looking into genetically engineering grey females to make them infertile as a long term solution to lessen grey numbers. This would involve altering the fertility gene of grey females and annually releasing newly engineered squirrels into the wild. Nicky Faber, who did research into this at Edinburgh University explained that overtime ‘it will spread through the population so after a certain number of generations, all grey squirrels will have the engineered gene and this will cause
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the flight to be cancelled, and was signed by over 90 Black and Asian public figures. While the flight still went ahead, it sparked national conversation and directed attention towards airlines - including TUI - who are contracted to carry out deportations for the government. The scope for refusing to carry out deportations seems relatively unexplored. Some pilots have refused to fly planes chartered for deportation flights. British Airways has responded to previous criticism regarding their involvement in deportation by stating that the company has no choice but to cooperate with the Home Office. However, Corporate Watch has determined that there is no legal precedent to take any action against an airline company for this reason. Yet, there is a precedent for a pledge against deportations. June 2018, following pressure from campaigners, saw Virgin Airlines agree to cease their involvement with deportation flights. In the wake of increased deportations, the ‘month of action’ beginning at the start of April aims to call attention to the ongoing deportations carried out by TUI and another airline, Privilege Style. The campaign is being led by SDS, and is partly run by SOAS students. Each week of the campaign will focus on a different theme, calling attention to
divergent aspects of this issue, but ultimately encouraging customers to stop buying holidays with TUI until they have pledged to stop participating in deportations from the UK.
“The month of action aims to call attention to ongoing deportations... and encourage customers to stop buying holidays until TUI have pledged to stop deportations from the UK.”
A spokesperson for the campaign said: ‘Our demand of TUI, the tourism giant who has centred their brand on the image of ‘wholesome’ family holidays is this: stop your collaboration with the Home Office, stop tearing communities and families apart.’ Details and live updates from their campaign can be found at @sdetsup via Twitter.
A native red squirrel photographed in a heated confrontation with a grey that had entered its territory. (Credit: John O'Brien/SWNS)
a lot of females to be infertile.’ On the other hand, Professor Luke Alphey of the Pirbright Institute in London highlighted that ‘regulatory approval and public acceptance would obviously be essential before any actual use of such technology – that is a long way off. But [research] indicates that gene drives could be a valuable tool in the conservation toolbox.’ For some Brits, simply eating greys is the answer. They argue grey squirrel meat is ‘the most ethical’ meat to eat as it protects both Britain’s woodlands and the native reds. Ecofriendly restaurant Native made news in 2019 when it decided to add ‘grey squirrel lasagne’ to its menu. Chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes of Native argued that greys are ‘one of the most
sustainable proteins you can cook. It almost tastes exactly the same as rabbit, but not as gamey.’ In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland native red squirrels are officially classified as a ‘near threatened’ species. Red Squirrels Northern England, a red squirrel conservationist group, say the three ways the public can help the fight to protect reds are by ‘submitting sightings; which are crucial to track the fortunes of red squirrels, join your local red squirrel group’ and lastly, going to visit places such as Wensleydale’s Snaizehome Red Squirrel Trail that are dedicated nature reserves established to home Britain’s native reds.
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