LORD Wandsworth College’s Amnesty Youth Group were invited to the Houses of Parliament to partake in the Amnesty reception at the Speaker’s House.

The purpose of the reception was to engage MPs and Peers in human rights action through Amnesty’s ‘Write for Rights’ campaign, a global letter-writing movement which is the world’s biggest human rights event. Every December, Amnesty supporters across the globe write millions of letters for those whose basic human rights are being attacked.

Motivated by their own passionate views, the group of Lord Wandsworth College students travelled to Parliament where they had the opportunity to speak to Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the human rights minister. They discussed with him why they were supporting a campaign to raise awareness of the murder of LGBTIQ activists in Bangladesh and the importance of empathy and compassion in today’s world.

They listened to the Rt Hon Ann Clwyd MP talk about her role in human rights and her work visiting prisoners in Iraq and Turkey. She talked about what a difference the letters written through the ‘Write for Rights’ campaign can make to the prisoners lives. The students commented on how moved they all were by the compelling account of life as an activist by Issa Amro, who works as a human rights defender in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Rt Hon John Bercow MP gave an inspirational talk on why he is such a staunch supporter of human rights and how passionately he felt about getting justice for the Rohingya people of Myanmar and how all parliamentarians should be involved in stopping ethnic cleansing.

Lord Wandsworth College students said what a privilege it was to have been invited to the reception and also remarked on how fascinating it had been to be inside the Houses of Parliament on such an important occasion. This group of future politicians will be starting their own ‘Write for Rights’ campaign in the New Year.