Since we first hung it, the problem has become worse. More and more refugees, from more and more countries. But the solutions have not got better. Just harsher and harsher ways of discouraging desperate people from bringing their troubles into our country.
The latest thing is to fly them to Rwanda - a poor country that already has a significant refugee problem of its own.
I think that the way the UK Government has acted is both inhumane and short sighted. I put my thoughts and feelings into a poem.
REFUGEE
Where do you come from,
My sister, my brother?
Where did the sun shine on your home?
What sea washed against its shores?
Over what land did your home wind blow?
Why did you leave,
My brother, my sister?
Did they bomb your houses,
Or threaten your children?
Or did the Earth itself deny you food?
How did you travel,
My cousin, my neighbour?
In the back of a van,
Or a leaking boat?
Or by long footsore miles on hard unknown roads?
Did you find help,
My parent, my child?
Kind hands to lift you, to warm you and feed you?
Or barred gates and harsh words,
And iron legalities to turn you away?
Where are you now,
My friend still a stranger,
Have you yet found a haven, a home?
Or are you still walking, wandering, travelling?
Still seeking a place where your value is known.
And will you become
My enemy, my hater?
Will your children use my name as a curse?
Because in my name, you were rejected,
And sent away, and told to 'Go home'.
Where will we go to,
My sister, my brother?
When the time comes for us to be sent on our way?
Will we find someone to offer us welcome?
Or will we in our turn be friendless that day?
I want you made welcome,
My brother, my sister,
I want to be welcomed by you in my turn.
May we and our children share our humanity,
As we all share the sun that shines on our home.
18/6/22