Without the petty bureaucrats who make the system work on a day-to-day basis, the Nazi holocaust would not have been possible. Neither would the UK’s ongoing pogram against refugees, many of whom face death or torture after being forcibly returned to their country of origin.

Yet it always seems that the bureaucrats have a pretty good time of things, and can hide too easily behind “I’m just doing my job”, “I didn’t make the policies” etc. The bottom line is that they do have a choice. They could refuse to enact unjust policies, or they could refuse to do the job at all and resign from the Home Office. By choosing to stay, they are actively choosing to participate in a system which is punishing innocent people and destroying lives. It’s time these ‘cogs in the system’ were held accountable.

I reached breaking point recently when I heard about the case of an Iranian refugee who had fled to Britain after being imprisoned and severely tortured for his political views. His case was supported and corroborated by the Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture, and he was actually granted refugee status in the UK. But the Home Office have launched a legal appeal against that eminently humane decision. It seems like this was the last straw for an outraged, traumatised man after everything he has suffered. He has now sewn up his lips, and his eyes, in protest, and is refusing food.
(see:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,965171,00.html)

At the very least, the people responsible for this man’s suffering deserve to have their morale sapped. The key to a morale-sapping email is to keep it short, and harsh. A brief reference to the case in question together with “You make me ashamed to be British”, “I hope your mothers are proud of you” etc. will usually suffice. A long email can easily be binned without being read, but they have to read at least the first couple of lines to determine whether it’s something they’re going to bin or not. This is the moment in which you can get to them…

Vindictive, I know, but if we can at least start to make people feel bad about their part in an oppressive system, we can start to chip away at the effectiveness of that system. So far I’ve found just one HO address:  public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Doubtless more can be found with a bit of digging.