Ben & Jerry's has come for the government's ‘ugly’ Rwanda plan

Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s has taken a stand against Priti Patel’s “ugly” Rwanda scheme calling the plan “cruel and morally bankrupt”.

In a series of posts from the official Twitter account for Ben & Jerry’s UK, the brand outlined its thoughts about the Home Office’s plan to send people seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda in east-central Africa.

Beginning the thread, they wrote: “Listen up folks ‘cos we need to talk about Priti Patel’s ‘ugly’ Rwanda plan and what this means.

“Most people are kind and compassionate, right? Yet our Government’s plan to forcibly send people to a country thousands of miles away, simply for seeking refuge in the UK, is cruel and morally bankrupt.”

The thread continued with a link to a piece in the Guardian written by an Iranian asylum seeker who has been notified that they will be one of the people offshored to Rwanda on 14 June.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Ben & Jerry’s continued, writing: “Under these racist and abhorrent plans, people who only ‘hoped for safety’ and ‘a show of humanity’ instead face ‘further trauma, further danger’.

“More than 100 people have already been sent ‘notices of intent’ by the Government. This means 100 individuals with families, hopes, and dreams, are now living in complete fear of being sent to a country they’ve never been to, and have no connection with.”

The brand went on to criticise the Conservative government for using these vulnerable people as “political chess pieces” and for showing “no regard” for their welfare.

Encouraging people to stand against the government’s “inhumane” plan, they directed them to a tweet from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants that offered suggestions such as writing to MPs, signing petitions and attending demonstrations against the scheme.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click theupvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.