Liverpool MP Dan Carden delivered a powerful speech on the global stage as he told world leaders to 'wake up' to the reality of mass migration and show support for refugees fleeing war and other crises.
Mr Carden, a former shadow international development secretary, gave the address as a delegate of the UK Parliament at the global assembly of parliamentarians in Indonesia. He referred to his own Irish immigrant roots as he urged the UK and other countries to commit to welcoming many-times-more people needing asylum into their countries and to reject anti-migrant, racist policies.
In an emotive speech, he said: “I can only stand here today, as the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton, because 180 years ago my great, great, great, great grandad Thomas Carden emigrated from Ireland to escape famine. He left Ballina in County Mayo, with his young wife, crossed the Irish Sea and made Liverpool his home.”
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"Liverpool is one of the great ports of the world. Known for our music, for our football, for our culture. We are home to the oldest black community in the UK, the first Chinese community in the whole of Europe and England’s first mosque. We are a city of migrants that looks outwards to the world."
He urged the Parliamentarians from 178 nations gathered before him to 'renew the fight for freedom, justice and peace in the world' and to 'guarantee them in the lives of each person and every community.'
Mr Carden said : "But in a rapidly changing world, where climate catastrophe, food insecurity, poverty and inequality, conflict and war, will drive further political and economic instability, imperil the future of our planet and displace hundreds of millions of people from their homes, we must go further. We must reaffirm the roots of human rights, in the inherent dignity of every human being if we are to rise to the challenge of mass displacement.
"The brutal war waged against Ukraine, has already created 4 million refugees. A one metre rise in sea-level would displace 40 million people in Bangladesh alone. Globally, today, there are 281 million international migrants and 82.4 million forcibly displaced people already."
The Labour MP added: "So the challenge is not just how we speak for those who elect us but how we defend people with no voice, with no home, and with no hope. We must guarantee the rights of every man, woman and child on the move, face up to the reality of mass migration, not deny it.
"That means strengthening the resolve of international institutions and rejecting the anti-migrant, racist rhetoric at home that provides no answers to the challenge at hand. The root causes of mass displacement will only be addressed through cooperation and solidarity."
