Steve Valdez-Symonds
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Over recent days, the relationship between the French and UK governments has been strained by renewed disagreement over who should take responsibility for children at Calais. The two governments have once more effectively abandoned...
Children who have fled from conflict zones and brutal regimes are finally being reunited with family in the UK. This should be a cause for celebration. Many have been living in squalor at risk from traffickers and abusers for months...
Mo Farah arguably just became the UK’s greatest ever Olympian. When he led the field across the line on Sunday, he completed a sensational back-to-back double – winning both 5,000 and 10,000 metre golds at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Of...
Written by Steve Symonds, Amnesty UK's Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme Director The power to detain is a long-standing Home Office obsession. For several years, the number of people detained has increased even as the proportion of...
The Brexit referendum decision is now the cause of considerable fear and uncertainty among the many European citizens and their families living in the United Kingdom. The reported rise in hate crimes compounds the uncertainty on which...
On Friday, the Kenyan government announced it intends to close its refugee camps. These camps host over 600,000 refugees – mostly in Kakuma and Dadaab, the latter being the world’s largest refugee camp. The announcement will bring much...
Late on Thursday last week I was on the Eurostar heading back to London – to home, family and friends. I was tired, cold and hungry. And – so my partner tells me – a little bit smelly. I had spent the previous two days trudging through...
A few weeks ago, David Cameron delivered his Christmas message to the nation. He said: 'If there is one thing people want at Christmas, it’s the security of having the family around them and a home that is safe.' While the Christmas...
Denmark has just passed asylum laws to give authorities the power to search refugees and migrants, and take their cash and valuables. Under this mean-spirited new law, the Danish police will be able to search asylum seekers and seize...