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AsianVoiceNews
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AsianVoiceNewsweekly
10 - 16 August 2019
onetoone WITH KEITH VAZ, MP
Ruth Tanner Ruth Tanner is the Head of Humanitarian Campaigns & Advocacy for Oxfam GB. She works to influence international responses to conflicts and disasters, raising funds for relief work and pressing for swifter aid and ending the root injustices. She tries and amplifies the voices of refugees, displaced people, and anyone affected by conflict and support people to rebuild their lives and stand up for their rights.
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Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in? London is home though. Its such a vibrant place that it keeps me on my toes.
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What are your proudest achievements?
In 2015 and 2016, I was working with Oxfam helping refugees fleeing Syria and seeking safety in Europe. The dignity of the families in such diffi-
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What has been biggest obstacle in your career? To be honest, I think I've been incredibly lucky. No complaints.
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Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date? The anti war movement that tried to stop the war on Iraq. I was young, optimistic and convinced we'd stop it. We didn't & the result was devastating. I have tried to work for peace & justice ever since.
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What is the best aspect about your current role? Oxfam is campaigning to keep refugee families together. I am so heartened to see that welcome communities are offering refugees start a new life in the UK. Across the country people are offering homes, friendship, advice and support. We just need the governments policy to be this cult circumstances was humbling. I was proud to be able to shine a light on compassionate. the failures of governments to give them the And the worst? protection they deserved & do what I could to make their journey safer. The scale of crisis & the horror of war can feel overwhelming for all of us. As a camWhat insprires you? paigner, I try to identify where we can realI am constantly inspired by amazing, ener- ly make a difference and support people to getic and passionate grassroots activists and take action. Getting this right makes the job worth while. brave human rights defenders.
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What are your long term goals?
I think we're seeing at the moment that progress isn't something you can count on. My long term goal is to stay optimistic & not give up.
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If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change? There are so many things, but if I could chose one thing to deliver today it would be an end to the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen. The UK government is supporting peace talks and giving large amounts of humanitarian aid – but it continues to fuel the conflict by selling fighter jets, bombs, and missiles to the coalition led by Saudi Arabia. The government’s decision to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia, is unlawful, some of the UK’s top judges have ruled. If I was the Prime Minister, I would stop fuelling the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
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If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why. Frida Kahlo - I think we'd have a lot to talk about & I've always wanted to learn to paint.
British Airways passengers accuse airline of racial discrimination A young family claim British Airways racially discriminated against them when staff refused to let them board despite going through checkin and security. The Moyo family from Kent were allowed through Schipol Airport in
Amsterdam without boarding passes which they believed would be issued at the gate. But when they arrived, Kiran and Dignity Moyo, with their threemonth old baby Noah, were not allowed to board the flight home to Gatwick last
month. They claim - along with a witness who filmed the incident - that a 'white Englishman' was allowed to travel without a boarding card while they were not. BA gate staff even called the police, who escorted the Moyos away from the scene.
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Mrs Moyo, an NHS pharmacist, was taking a family holiday and they were on their way home from Schiphol to Gatwick on July 20. She said today they were forced to spend £800 on a hotel room after they were turned away. The 31-year-old said: 'My child and myself were physically assaulted by the gate
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The 'white Englishman' (left) poses with Ms Moyo after he was issued with a boarding pass after going through security
worker when she attempted to grab my phone, with the intention of deleting contents of my phone.' It is understood flight delays at Schipol resulted in the Moyo family not getting boarding passes but airport management allowed them to go to the gate where it was expected they would be given passes by BA. Fellow passenger Joshua Arthur documented what followed. He wrote: 'Due to flight delay, a couple and their three-month-old baby hadn't checked in yet, which resulted in them not getting their boarding passes. 'The same thing happened to an Englishman. The airport staff understood the situation and let them all through security anyway. 'However, at the boarding gate, the British Airways workers let the English man on the plane, but wouldn't let the couple and their baby board - even though the airport staff had already let them through security without a boarding pass.
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'Us passengers filmed what happened at the boarding gate for evidence. When the British Airways workers found out they threatened us by saying that we weren't allowed to board the plane, unless they saw us delete the video.' BA said they have launched an investigation into the incident.
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Kiran and Dignity Moyo with their three-month-old baby at the boarding gate at Amsterdam's Schipol airport last month
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