Scientology workers have been spreading propaganda in south London once again, this time under the banner of their ‘United For Human Rights’ front group.

In an article in Saint Hiller, the magazine Scientology produces in-house in which it reports on Church news local to its headquarters near East Grinstead, Scientology claims volunteers distributed 1,000 ‘What are Human Rights’ booklets in Croydon on Saturday 4th January and that “the public were receptive of the information and curious about it and the shop owners were very happy to take the booklets for their customers to read.” However, it does not confirm whether the volunteers identified themselves as Scientology representatives or disclosed that the material was produced by the Church.

United for Human Rights is one of Scientology’s many ‘social betterment programs’ which sit in the PR division of the organisation as a tool to claim legitimacy and public benefit. They claim these programs are run independently of the Church and are secular in nature, however the materials are based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard – which Scientology themselves argued in a 2013 UK Supreme Court case are religious in nature. The programs include Narconon and Criminon, Scientology’s drug rehabilitation and criminal reform groups which have been independently recognised by the Charity Commission, despite Scientology itself being rejected in 1999.

Another one of their programs, the ‘Foundation for a Drug Free World’ (also known as ‘Truth About Drugs’) landed itself in hot water last September after it was found to be promoting a non-existent partnership with the Metropolitan Police force, who subsequently demanded the Scientologists to remove their logo from the website.

According to the 2021 census, the population of Croydon is around 390,800 meaning Scientology’s campaign to distribute 1,000 flyers reached just 0.25% of local residents.

There is no doubt it is important to be aware of human rights, but it’s also important to note Scientology’s effort to distribute information on the topic is widely considered to be a smokescreen PR stunt orchestrated to provide a defence to the accusations of human trafficking, child labour and modern slavery that have plagued their organisation for decades.

Scientology claim to be the “fastest growing religion on planet Earth” and say they have millions of members worldwide. If that were the case, and if they truly cared about informing the public about their human rights, perhaps one might expect to see numbers more like 10,000 or 100,000 flyers distributed in Croydon. Especially considering the average Scientologist donates over £20,000 per year to the Church and all its materials are produced in-house by Sea Org staff who work 14-16 hour days, 7 days a week with no time off for a “weekly stipend” of just £50.

Nonetheless, Scientology claim they are the most “ethical group of people” on the planet.