Youth violence and child criminal exploitation in the UK are at an all time high, and the government aren’t doing enough to prevent it. In the past 5 years, knife crime has increased by 71%, and the number of young people who lost their lives to violence rose by 45% from 2017-2018. And because of massive cuts to funding for youth programs and services, the criminal exploitation of children has sky-rocketed. If the government wants to protect young people in the UK from violence and exploitation, they need to fund youth services that can intervene early in young people’s lives, making sure they have safe places to go to and trusted adults to help them and protect them from harm. I started this petition because I have children myself, and I want the government to do more to give them opportunities, and keep them safe. Please sign and share.

America is currently separating young children from their parents at borders, and placing them alone in detention centres, without access to clean water, beds, contact with family members, or proper care. Migrants have been kept in cells at freezing temperatures, and many of them have died due to lack of proper medical care. The US government have used children as bait to arrest and deport family members who come forward to care for them. Human Rights Watch spoke to an 11 year old in one of the detention centres, caring for his toddler brother, in a cell crowded with other children. When they spoke to the brothers, the little one had matted hair, and a awful cough, with eyes half closed with fatigue. They had been in there for three weeks, with no contact with their relatives or the outside world. US border control are holding many children, as young as two years old, in jail-like border control facilities for weeks or months at a time without access to showers or clean clothes, with many children becoming sick. All migrants have the right to be treated with dignity, humanity, and compassion, and children are entitled to additional safeguards under both US and international law. It is time the U.K. government as the USA's closest allies take action and publicly condemn these human rights abuses.

Human rights and fundamental freedoms are under attack in Hong Kong. In recent years, booksellers have been abducted, pro-democracy candidates disqualified and barred from standing for election, protestors imprisoned, and the free press undermined. A government proposal that will allow Hong Kong people to be extradited to face unjust trials in mainland China was the last straw. This June, millions took to the streets to say that enough is enough. In 1984, the United Kingdom signed a treaty with China that promised after the handover, Hong Kong people's rights and freedoms will remain unchanged until 2047. But China has broken this promise repeatedly with escalating attacks on Hongkongers' human rights. Recent events are a wake-up call. The British government has a responsibility under international law to protect human rights in Hong Kong. They must show this commitment post-Brexit, by insisting that a human rights clause is included in a future free trade agreement. This will be the first time the UK has ever negotiated a free trade agreement with Hong Kong: it must take a stand to protect human rights, fundamental freedoms and our shared values.

I am starting this petition in regards to the decision made to refuse UK residency to a very dear friend of mine. Having experienced racial attacks and prejudice in his native USA, Steffan Chadwick Harris moved to Scotland and has been a member of our community for years, having received a spousal visa through his wife. However, as I’m sure you appreciate, marriages do not always last forever, and Steffan and his wife are currently in the process of divorcing. I lived in the same building as Steffan for many years. Since separating from his wife, Steffan has moved out of Edinburgh and has managed to secure a job working in Kirkcaldy. He has become a much more confident and happy person and is contributing positively to society. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive country who welcome people from all walks of life and I believe that after 8 years in Scotland, Steffan belongs here. I would be very grateful if somehow we could convince the Home Office to reconsider the decision to deny him his future in our country.

In the years since Lizanne and John returned to Corrie, Isle of Arran, they have fully immersed themselves in island life, and have become indispensable to the community. The Home Office have decided that Lizanne is no longer welcome in the UK, and have instructed her to return to South Africa; as well as suggesting John Malpas (a UK citizen) should simply go with her to mitigate any perceived emotional distress this decision may cause. Lizanne and John's business, the Sandwich Station, has become one of the top food outlets on Arran, and is highly coveted the island over; as well as being fully able to financially support Lizanne and John's lives here. Over and above, the Sandwich Station is able to employ locals, providing a valuable social and economic contribution to this rural location. By removing Lizanne from the country, this invaluable local business will face the very real prospect of closure. It is clear to the whole community that this decision is fundamentally wrong, and we compel the Home Office, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid, and all other concerned parties, to re-evaluate the worth of allowing Lizanne to continue her life with her husband, here, in her home village of Corrie.

For peace of mind & closure

BAE Systems is a sponsor of the 2019 Festival of Making, ‘a family celebration of making and manufacturing’. But BAE Systems is not a family-friendly manufacturer. BAE is the world's fourth largest arms producer, selling fighter aircraft, warships, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, missiles and small arms to over 100 countries including repressive regimes. BAE has sold billions of pounds worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, and is currently finalising a deal to supply fighter jets despite Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen, a conflict that is taking a particular toll on children. Thousands of children and civilians have died in the conflict, while millions more face famine and disease with the destruction of infrastructure. Save the Children say 12.3 million children in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance. A recent parlimentary report says that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are causing ‘significant civilian casualties’ in Yemen and are probably illegal. Yet BAE Systems continues to sell weapons to the regime. Last year we forced BAE Systems to withdraw as a sponsor of the Great Exhibition of the North. We need to show that BAE Systems is not welcome at any family festivals until it stops arming repressive regimes. The 2019 Festival of Making must #dropBAE

I am a British citizen, my family comes from the Chagos Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Indian Ocean. My family - and everyone on Chagos - were forcibly removed from the islands in the early 1970s to make way for an American air base. My mother was given no compensation and abandoned in Seychelles, where I was born and grew up in extreme poverty. Only those born on Chagos or who had a parent born there can get a British passport. So because of the deportations which ruined my mother’s life, my daughters who have lived in the UK since 2014 are not entitled to British citizenship - And now they - like my mother - are facing deportation to a country where they would they’d be alone, with no family support and few opportunities. In 2016 the Government told Chagossians we can not go back to our homeland. But how can it be right for the UK government to say we can not go home and we can not stay here in Britain either? A Bill before Parliament would give my daughters - and thousands of Chagossians in the same position - the right to live in the UK. The Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said he’ll consider making these changes but so far has done nothing. The government have apologised for the removal of my mother’s generation from Chagos. But if they are really sorry, they will take action to stop my children suffering the consequences today.

Pauline and I have been together for 3½ years and happily married for 16 months. Pauline, a Jamaican national, has lived in the UK for over 17 years under a series of home office approvals. All her family are here with settled status. Pauline has British grandmothers and her grandfather fought with the Royal Navy in World War 2. A cheerful and likeable person who always puts others first, Pauline has contributed positively to British society, including previously as a qualified carer for the elderly. Voluntary care she has provided has allowed my aunt to continue living in her own home following a serious car accident. Our application for a spouse visa was refused in September 2017 despite meeting all the eligibility criteria and Pauline was immediately taken to Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre. She was held there for 24 days until we managed to secure bail with help from the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID). Just 3 weeks beforehand the Home Office had given us the go ahead to get married! The matter has been front page news in the local press (first “Shrewsbury bride’s hopes dashed” and then “Wife loses battle to stay in UK"). We were finally able to get married a week after Pauline’s bail. Pauline was subject to serious abuse as a child and has been diagnosed with some debilitating mental health conditions though she always puts on a positive face. Whilst in detention she lost 1½ stone and was placed on suicide watch. The G4S medical team did nothing. Our solicitor submitted a further human rights application which was recently refused and Pauline was told to immediately leave the UK or face severe punishment. They said no new information had been submitted and there was nothing to stop us from living together in Jamaica, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Their decision relied on a previous decision more than 5 years out of date. It completely ignored clear advice from NHS professionals and the fact that my specialist work helps add millions to the regional economy! Our solicitor immediately recommended a Judicial Review. Pauline's GP is so concerned at her poor treatment that she has referred the matter to the British Medical Council. Dozens of people are being profoundly affected, including vulnerable children and adults. As the wife of a British citizen Pauline in theory meets all the requirements for a spouse application submitted from Jamaica but like her previous applications this could take another 16 months to determine with no guarantee of success. Given her current condition I doubt she would last a single day in Jamaica, isolated and cut off from her home and loving family. Is this the way to treat someone with the potential to make such a positive contribution to the UK? Immigration rules must be interpreted with flexibility and compassion. Forcing Pauline out of the country and potentially destroying so many innocent lives is a very severe punishment for someone who has committed no real crime. It has absolutely no regard to human rights. We call on the Home Office to stop interfering with the lives of the thousands of normal people targeted by the indiscriminate hostile environment policy and to reverse this cruel and inhumane decision.

My family and I are running out of time and we don't know where to ask for help. My case has been on going for three years now and I am scared of their unchanging views because it means for me to be separated from my family again. My dad has been working here in the UK for almost fourteen years where ten years he was apart from us. My mom, sister, brother and I came here in 2015 to be together with my dad. Then, we had to renew our visas last 2016. We did our biometrics together but for some reason mine was a late submission and that's where it all started to crumble. We were put in a situation where we don't have anything to show for and we have been in two firms, one of which is still representing me but I am starting to lose faith. Multiple Administrative and Judicial reviews have been sought out but their decision was maintained.This battle has drained us financially and emotionally and we are running out of options. I hope we had better knowledge of what we should have done and trusted the right people, maybe it wouldn't have come to this. We are seeking any kind of help. I don't want to leave United Kingdom as it is my dream to be here ever since I was a child. This is where we belong. If I were to be given another chance, I will work harder and earn the right to prove myself. My home is where my family are and I don't want to be taken away from my home.

"Over 30,000 people are locked up in prison-like conditions every year, with no time limit on how long they can be held. This is not for having committed a crime. It is purely because they do not (yet) have the correct immigration papers. The majority of people detained are eventually released, but many never really recover from the trauma. It’s a terrible waste of money (£125 million a year), and a waste of lives. Immigration detention is a wholly unnecessary, unjustifiable practice, one of the most harmful aspects of the UK’s “hostile environment” for migrants and a shameful civil rights abuse that cannot be ignored." Quoted from the 'These Walls Must Fall' Campaign Website (http://detention.org.uk/)

Cole Thomson is only 6 years old and has uncontrolled focal epilepsy of which he has now become drug resistant. He has tried 16 different types of medication and had his first brain surgery when he was only 2 years old. To date nothing has been able to stop his seizures. Unfortunately there has been a steady decline in his health since May this year. Coles speech, vision, movement and memory are all continuing to deplete and he has also developed Todd Paralysis, which is extremely distressing for his 9 year old brother Dylan when he takes an attack as well as his parents, grandparents, other family members and especially 6 year old Cole himself. Currently the next step in Scotland is invasive testing, which for Cole would potentially be in the first quarter of 2019. He has a 1 in 100 chance of not surviving the operation, to see if he is a suitable candidate for further exploratory brain surgery. We are looking for your help to enable a step in between which could negate the need for surgery by allowing him legal access to cannabis based medicine. After speaking to Coles mum we became increasingly concerned at the amount of unlicensed, untested products being offered to her on the black market to apparently “help Cole”. Coles parents are unwilling to take the risk with any of these products. This does not take away from the fact that they’ve been offered unlicensed products by numerous different sellers and shows that currently there is a market feeding off of the fears of vulnerable families, who are desperately looking for answers to improve their children’s quality of life or indeed save it. We are looking to support the family by putting a campaign forward to you The Scottish Government to enable Cole to gain legal access to prescription cannabis based medicine. This would be the step before invasive surgery which would give him the opportunity to try a more natural drug which has a very high success rate for children like Cole all over the world. Please support our campaign to Save Cole Thomson by allowing him to get prescription cannabis based medicine.