Billboards in UK tell Immigrants to ‘Go home or face arrest’

Saturday, July 27, 2013 · 

A former Liberal Democrat minister, Sarah Teather, has criticised a Home Office “go home or face arrest” mobile billboard advertising campaign as “nothing less than straightforward intimidation”.
Teather, who accused ministers of “cranking up the anti-migrant rhetoric”, is MP for Brent Central, in one of six London boroughs where the week-long pilot scheme to encourage illegal migrants to leave Britain is taking place this week.
The advertising vans will also show residents how many illegal migrants have recently been arrested in their local area and carry a text number for overstayers to use to arrange their return home.

The adverts say: “In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest. Text HOME to 78070 for free advice, and help with travel documents. We can help you to return home voluntarily without fear of arrest or detention.”
The campaign is to be backed up by leaflets, posters and messages in local newspapers. The six boroughs being targeted are Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Barnet, Brent and Redbridge. They were chosen because they have either significantly higher or below average numbers of voluntary returns, so that the success of the pilot scheme can be assessed. More than 28,000 illegal migrants went home voluntarily last year.
The immigration minister, Mark Harper, said: “We are making it more difficult for people to live and work in the UK illegally. But there is an alternative to being led away in handcuffs. Help and advice can be provided to those who co-operate and return home voluntarily.” He said the pilot scheme was part of a package of immigration reforms being introduced this year, including restricting migrants’ access to benefits and services.
Teather said: “This is the latest in a string of Home Office announcements that are designed to make the government look tough on immigration. But I fear that the only impact of this deeply divisive form of politics will be to create tension and mistrust to anyone who looks and sounds foreign. These adverts are nothing less than straightforward intimidation and … can only have bad consequences for communities like those I represent in Brent, where people from all faiths and races have mixed for decades. We will all be much poorer for it.”
She said ministers would do better to tackle the problems of vulnerable people fleeing persecution and violence being treated with disbelief and lack of compassion when they apply for asylum in Britain.- The Guardian