Surveillance Is Stranding Ukrainian Refugees

Friend, Like leaders around the world, British leaders have said they stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in their hour of need, particularly now as more than a million civilians seek safety from the conflict abroad. But those warm words have been followed by cold indifference for the growing numbers of asylum seekers stranded across the English Channel…stranded by the UK’s cruel biometric surveillance system. Even as Ukrainians flee for their lives, they’re being forced to submit to biometric scans, turning their bodies into tracking data for the British government. While it’s unclear how this invasive requirement could be any help, for many Ukrainians it’s turning into an insurmountable barrier to the support British leaders promised. Sadly, the UK is not alone, but part of a growing global push to track refugees and asylum seekers with unproven and unsafe forms of biometric tracking. This data has been weaponized when it falls into the wrong hands, like the Taliban’s capture of American and UN biometric data. And when this data is compromised, refugees’ privacy and safety is compromised for the rest of their lives. Rather than surveilling refugees, the global community should be protecting their safety and rights. And while the US has been slow to house Ukrainian refugees, we fear that we’ll be quick to impose similar barriers. Please join us in calling on all governments to suspend biometric requirements for refugees, prioritizing safety, not surveillance. In solidarity, Albert Fox Cahn Executive Director Share Tweet Forward Copyright © 2022 STOP, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.