Luke Butterly

“I’m not a humanitarian.” Search and rescue captain rebukes Paris’ highest honour

Luke Butterly on August 23, 2019, 3:00 pm

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Pia Klemp, the search-and-rescue captain who saved migrants in the Mediterranean and is being prosecuted by Italian courts, has refused a medal from Paris Mayor Anne Hildago due to the treatment of migrants in the French capital. The Socialist Mayor prides herself on taking a more humanitarian approach to that of the French central government, and wanted to award Ms Klemp and Carole Rackete – another captain who has been pursued by Italian courts – for their search-and-rescue work. But …

UN Report: The Full Picture of Poverty in the UK is Obvious to Anyone who Opens their Eyes

Luke Butterly on July 6, 2019, 9:01 am

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“[T]he full picture of poverty in the United Kingdom, much of it the direct result of government policies… is obvious to anyone who opens their eyes. There has been a shocking increase in the number of food banks and major increases in homelessness and rough sleeping; a growing number of homeless families…” – Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on poverty in the UK (22 May 2019) “I reject the idea that there are vast numbers of people facing dire …

Leading Northern Irish voices join support of ‘Stansted 15’ protestors

Luke Butterly on December 12, 2018, 2:31 pm

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“It must be recalled that this is all taking place against the background of an inhumane immigration policy that is acknowledged to be openly hostile.” Leading Northern Irish politicians, human rights groups, academics, journalists and activists have expressed their “deep concern and disagreement” with Monday’s ruling against fifteen human rights activists who “acted to stop a brutal, secretive and barely legal deportation flight” at Stansted airport in March 2017. Known as the ‘Stansted 15’, they have been convicted of ‘endangering an aerodrome’ under the …