The flickering embers of racism and hatred being fanned across the globe must not be allowed to burst into flames of racial and religious intolerance, the Green Party said as it published its manifesto for Black Asian Minority Ethnic communities in the UK.
The BME manifesto demands an end to the scapegoating of migrants and reform of stop and search and Prevent. It calls for the Minimum Income Requirement on British citizens wanting their partner to join them in the UK to be abolished and demands an end to indefinite detention for immigration purposes.
The Green Party also wants asylum processes to be changed, allowing asylum-seekers the right to work while their claims are processed, and more funding to ensure that asylum cases are completed quickly and fairly, with reforms to the asylum support system to meet the needs of all.
The BME manifesto includes policies on Work, Migration, Communities, Democracy, Housing and Education.
On Work, a headline policy is the introduction of anonymised CVs in businesses with more than 50 employees, so that fewer female and BME candidates applying for jobs risk being screened out before the interview stage.
Rashid Nix, Green Party BME Equalities Spokesperson, said: “These are critical and crucial times. It's important the flickering embers of racism and hatred being fanned by many across the globe are not allowed to burst into full-blown flames of racial and religious intolerance. Therefore, the actions taken by our political leaders today will define how we respond to this threat for generations to come.”
The manifesto will be launched on 2 June with the city’s first Green Party Councillor of African Caribbean descent Cleo Lake, and Rashid Nix. The evening will feature his film 'Why Black People Don't Vote' as well as looking at issues such as climate change from a global perspective. Among the guests will be Molly Scott Cato MEP, the Green Party’s General Election candidate in Bristol West.
