Europe

UK plan to ban English Channel crossers from seeking asylum 'out of step' with majority of public: NGO

'Most of those coming to the UK on small boats are fleeing the unimaginable horror of war, conflict and persecution,' says Refugee Council

Ahmet Gurhan Kartal  | 05.10.2022 - Update : 05.10.2022
UK plan to ban English Channel crossers from seeking asylum 'out of step' with majority of public: NGO File Photo

LONDON

Government plans to ban those who arrive in the UK in small boats crossing the English Channel from seeking asylum are “deeply worrying,” according to the Refugee Council NGO.

Enver Solomon, CEO of the one of the leading charities working with refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK, said Tuesday’s proposal from Home Secretary Suella Braverman is “out of step with the majority of the public, who support giving refugees protection.”

“Most of those coming to the UK on small boats are fleeing the unimaginable horror of war, conflict and persecution,” Solomon said in an email to Anadolu Agency.

He said: “They must not be criminalised for doing so but given a fair hearing on UK soil. Prime Ministers since Winston Churchill have committed to the Refugee Convention –which we were a founding signatory of – and we should be strengthening our commitment to this, not seeking to break from it.”

Solomon argued that none of what the home secretary is proposing “will do anything to tackle the problems in our asylum system because it fundamentally fails to address the reasons people are forced to come here in the first place.”

“We need constructive proposals, from creating safe routes for refugees, to ending the backlog in asylum claims and working with international partners to properly address root causes of forced migration.”


Backlash to announcement

At the Conservative Party’s fall conference in Birmingham, Britain’s new home secretary said that under new plans, migrants crossing the English Channel from France to the UK will face a blanket ban from claiming asylum.

In her first major speech in her new post, Braverman unveiled the plan amid 35,000 such crossings having taken place this year alone, according to official figures.

Braverman’s announcement that the government’s Rwanda plan, under which asylum seekers would be sent to the African country while their applications are processed, will be implemented has also faced a backlash.

Detention Action, a group fighting the Rwanda plan in court, said Braverman was “pouring fuel on the fire created by her predecessor, Priti Patel.”

“This Government's refusal to provide people with safe, stable, efficient routes to seek safety in the UK has exposed even more men, women and children to the risk of exploitation and a dangerous Channel crossing,” the group said in a statement.

Detention Action argued that “by focusing on punishment instead of processing, Patel and Braverman have left more than 90,000 people awaiting a decision on their asylum claim, living in limbo and unable to begin rebuilding their lives.”

“They have kept many people in detention, unjustly and indefinitely.”


‘End the cruelty of indefinite detention’

The group said Braverman was committed to Patel and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's “refugee removal deal with Rwanda, which is currently being challenged in the High Court.”

Detention Action said: “Instead of adding to this mess, Braverman should create safe routes for refugees to reach the UK, including by claiming asylum here, process people's asylum claims, so they can begin rebuilding their lives in our communities, and end the cruelty of indefinite detention.”

The new home secretary Tuesday argued the current law “simply isn’t working,” as it is being “abused” by human smugglers, last-minute claims, and specialist lawyers.

“This cannot continue,” she added.

She said: “Conference, I will commit to you today that I will look to bring forward legislation to make it clear that the only route to the United Kingdom is through a safe and legal route.”

“So, if you deliberately enter the United Kingdom illegally from a safe country, you should be swiftly returned to your home country or relocated to Rwanda. That is where your asylum claim will be considered,” Braverman added.

The Rwanda deal was introduced by Patel but the first flights taking some asylum seekers to Rwanda were grounded after decisions from the European Court of Human Rights and separate legal challenges in UK courts.

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