The British government wants to prevent migrants who have crossed the Channel from applying for asylum in the United Kingdom, Interior Minister Suella Braverman said on Tuesday, an announcement immediately denounced by refugee associations as a violation of the international conventions.
“If you enter the UK illegally from a safe country, you must be promptly sent back to your country of origin or relocated to Rwanda, where your asylum claim will be considered,” said the ultra-conservative minister , applauded at the Conservative Party Congress in Birmingham (central England).
33,500 people crossed in 2022
London has made the issue of immigration a priority since Brexit and says it wants to reduce the number of migrants the country takes in. Suella Braverman said there were “too many asylum seekers abusing the system” and not serving “the needs of the economy”.
More than 33,500 people have made the dangerous crossing of the English Channel since the beginning of the year, one of the busiest sea routes in the world. This figure has been steadily increasing since 2018 despite the promises of successive Conservative governments.
A “barbaric, misleading and useless” project
Braverman’s announcements have been denounced in unison by organizations defending the rights of migrants, who believe that they are a diversion, at a time when the British, the majority in favor of welcoming migrants according to the polls, s are primarily concerned about the cost of living crisis. The founder of Care4Calais, Clare Mosley, criticized a “barbaric, misleading and unnecessary” project and denounced the “false” rhetoric of the government on the subject.
According to figures from the British Home Office, 94% of the approximately 50,000 migrants who arrived in the United Kingdom after crossing the Channel in makeshift boats between January 2018 and June 2022 have applied for asylum. 86% of those who have since had their application considered have been granted asylum.
The Refugee Council, meanwhile, has pointed out that the announcements go against the United Nations Convention on Refugees, which states that a migrant cannot be penalized in their asylum application because of the way in which they has entered the country where he is applying.
Braverman wants to “take back control”
As part of its fight against immigration, the government announced in the spring that it would send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. This policy has so far been blocked by the European Court of Human Rights, which Suella Braverman regretted, calling on the United Kingdom to “take back control” in the face of “a foreign court which endangers our sovereignty”.
The minister also denounced what she described as “abuse” of migrants posing as victims of “modern slavery” – remarks there also qualified as lies by NGOs.
In another part of her ministerial portfolio, she attacked environmental protesters from the groups Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion who regularly block traffic in protest against the government’s climate policy. “The police must have all the powers necessary to stop these demonstrators who are using guerrilla techniques and triggering chaos,” she said.