Part of Private Members' Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly am 1:30 pm ar 8 Awst 2024.
Decades of deliberate misinformation will be hard to untangle. Across the world, there is a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. Those with nothing are pitted against each other by those with everything. Here is where our leadership really matters. Here is where we have to say, "This is misinformation." We have a moral duty to address the lies that people are being told and the manipulation and to stress that only 0·6% of the UK population are asylum seekers and that 85% of refugees are in developing countries. We need to be clear that Northern Ireland needs newcomers in order to grow. Can we please stay away from the narrative of the good migrant versus the bad migrant? Your working in a hospital does not make you better than an asylum seeker. We are all human beings. We all have worth, and we all have value.