Jeremy Corbyn MP uses 101st day as Opposition Leader to listen to torture survivors in the UK

The Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP, has told torture survivors that the UK is not doing enough to support those fleeing human rights abuses in Syria and around the globe.

On a constituency visit to the charity Freedom from Torture, Mr Corbyn also slammed the asylum process, poor levels of asylum support and cuts to Legal Aid - and promised that Labour Party officials will listen to torture survivors in the UK before forming party policies on asylum and other issues for the 2020 manifesto.

Mr Corbyn has supported Freedom from Torture, the only charity solely dedicated to the support and treatment of torture survivors who seek refuge in the UK, since it was established in 1985.

This Tuesday he took questions from a packed meeting of torture survivor clients, members of staff and volunteers at its North London central office.

Kolbassia Haoussou, the co-ordinator of SSO (Survivors Speak OUT), chaired the meeting. He began by noting that one of Mr Corbyn's first acts as Opposition Leader had been to raise the plight of refugees.

Mr Corbyn was critical of the relatively low numbers of Syrians due to be resettled in the UK, and praised German leader Angela Merkel for her insistence that Germany and other European countries resettle more Syrians:

"20,000 refugees is a tiny number of people to resettle relative to the UK's 65 million population. I am on a different part of the political spectrum to Angela Merkel, but she has taken the right stance on insisting on resettling refugees," he said.

Mr Corbyn was critical of the relatively low numbers of Syrians due to be resettled in the UK, and praised German leader Angela Merkel for her insistence that Germany and other European countries resettle more Syrians.

Torture survivors who have fled to the UK by the asylum route, rather than being resettled, told the Opposition Leader of the challenges the asylum system posed for their rehabilitation and mental health. They told him they were affected by the poor asylum-decision-making process and low levels of asylum support.

Mr Corbyn replied that he was personally depressed by meeting asylum applicants who had been awaiting decisions on their claims for many years, including one constituent waiting for twelve years. He acknowledged the asylum system often traumatises those who have already suffered human rights abuses.

"We must end this limbo and end the waste of skills and lives because people are not allowed to work while they are making an asylum claim. People should be allowed to contribute" he added.

This was important, he told the torture survivors attending the meeting, because "human rights don't just happen, they happen because of the many among you who have taken a stand."

The Opposition Leader pledged he will fight to retain Human Rights Act - "It is the first ever piece of positive rights legislation in the UK and I will defend it absolutely" – and he also warned against the UK putting business interests before human rights in foreign policy, noting recent issues he had raised concerning business deals with Saudi Arabia.

He called on the UK to start making human rights "the start and end points of policies" and pledged that if he comes to power Foreign and Home Office officials will have to take the views of torture survivors and others into account when formulating Government policies.

He called on the UK to start making human rights "the start and end points of policies" and pledged that if he comes to power Foreign and Home Office officials will have to take the views of torture survivors and others into account when formulating Government policies.

In the meantime he promised that Opposition spokespeople will come to listen to Freedom from Torture clients and SSO members before adopting 2020 manifesto policies; and he affirmed the role that torture survivors' lived experiences can play in promoting human rights.

"I hope you will continue to keep using your experiences to educate people, especially young people, about human rights and tolerance," Mr Corbyn told the torture survivors who had gathered. "This is how we can work for a better world, a world of peace, together. Thank you for the honour of meeting you today."