Hassan Akad arrived in the United Kingdom seven years ago after fleeing the war in his home country, with no choice but to trust a human trafficker. As more and more people risk crossing the Channel in small boats, the 34-year-old says the government’s treatment of asylum seekers is “getting worse and worse”. Read more: Why are people being sent to Rwanda and how will it work? Living in London now, Mr. Akkad returned on all 87 days of his perilous journey from Syria, and his film Exodus: Our Journey To Europe won a Bafta and an Emmy. Image: Filmmaker Hassan Akkad temporarily changed career to spend time disinfecting coronavirus wards at his local hospital during the pandemic As the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, Mr. Akkad gained a reputation for viruses when he changed careers to clean up hospital wards for the NHS. Now licensed to stay in the UK, Mr Akkad continues to make films and also works as an ambassador for the refugee organization Choose Love. “The hostile environment is getting worse” Asked how he felt when he heard about the government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, he said it was “depressing”, but did not cause shock. He told Sky News: “To be honest I did not find it strange because since I came to this country seven years ago, the hostile environment has been getting worse in Britain. “The treatment of asylum seekers has been getting worse since I came here, so it did not seem shocking to me that our government has sunk so low that it decided to send people to a country thousands of miles away and an authoritarian leader. ». Image: Hassan Akad arrived in the United Kingdom seven years ago after escaping the war in Syria “Ethics and moral failure” Mr Akkad described the plans as “a moral and ethical failure” and said they were “more expensive than putting people in the Ritz”. He continued: “The reason you leave your country is if you do not leave, you die. “You are coming here waiting to be protected and cared for just to face this new law that the government is passing. “It’s very depressing and not a great show for Britain.” Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:00 The Navy has come under the control of the English Channel Mr Akkad has released a memoir of his arrival in the United Kingdom entitled Hope Not Fear. Mr Johnson dismissed the charities’ concerns that the plan was “cruel and ugly”. He said: “This is morally right and human and compassionate. “We can not have people continue to die at sea, paying huge sums to bad trackers who are just exploiting their hopes and aspirations. “We must encourage them to follow the safe and legal path if they want to come to this country.” The Home Office plan, designed to provide “safe and legal avenues for asylum seekers while disrupting the business model of traffickers”, has been described as “inhuman” and “cruel” by human rights groups, which claim similar offshore strategy in Australia. failed to limit the number of arrivals. Human rights groups say the government of President Paul Kagame in Rwanda is authoritarian, with opposition parties allowed only in the last elections of 2018.
