Europe UK registers a record number of migrants crossing the English Channel and says the situation is "unacceptable"
The British Government is considering denying asylum to all immigrants who have arrived in the country by "illegal route", according to
The Sunday Times
.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is pressing Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak
to push through a law that would deny refugee status to immigrants who arrive illegally on British shores by boat crossing the English Channel
(more than 44,000 at the time). which is this year).
Braverman herself has supported the report prepared by the "think tank" Center for Policy Studies, which
recommends radical measures such as the indefinite detention of immigrants
who enter the country illegally and their automatic deportation to Rwanda.
The report, produced by Theresa May
's former chief of staff ,
Nick Timothy, has broad support in the Conservative Party but has been strongly contested.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has in fact warned that
the British report is full of legal "errors"
and could come into direct confrontation with the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees.
"The figure of the 'illegal asylum seeker' does not exist," stressed the UNHCR in a statement.
"Detaining asylum seekers indefinitely because of the way they arrive would
penalize people in need of assistance and protection
and would be a flagrant breach of the UK's obligations under the 1951 Convention."
"Applying a blanket ban on asylum seekers to those arriving by boat would also be in breach of the Convention, if it turns out that the refugees have no way of determining their status and leaves them at risk of being repatriated to their country of origin." add the statement.
Rishi Sunak's government has not yet taken an official position, but the immigration law with the measures promoted by Suella Braverman can reach Parliament urgently and be approved before Christmas, according to
The Sunday Times
.
The recent news of the record of 504,000 immigrants reached in the last year (between the wave of refugees from the Ukraine and Hong Kong) has triggered the alarms and has brought the migration issue back to the forefront like never since the consummation of Brexit.
Public opinion
84% of Britons think the government is mismanaging immigration
, according to a recent YouGov poll.
63% are in favor of imposing a ceiling on the number of refugees and 68% believe that illegal immigrants should be deported, regardless of human rights laws.
The controversial minister
"We are fed up with the abuse of human rights laws to prevent the deportation of people who do not legally reside in the United Kingdom," writes the controversial Braverman (
daughter of Indian immigrants settled in Mauritius and Kenya
) in the foreword to the Center's report for Policy Studies.
"This is not xenophony or anti-immigration. This is the reality most Britons admit
. "
European Convention
The report raises the possible withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, an option it has been planning since the intervention of the Strasbourg Court blocking at the last moment the first flight with deported immigrants to Rwanda last month. of June.
Braverman has kept alive the "Rwanda plan"
, drawn up by his predecessor Priti Patel.
Crisis in the
Channel
"I am willing to do whatever it takes to deal with the migration crisis in the English Channel,"
Baverman stresses in the report's foreword.
It is estimated that 2022 will end with a new record of 47,000 immigrants making the crossing from France (compared to just 539 in 2018).
The agreement with France
The recent migration agreement with France, after three years of constant tensions between the two countries, has only partially eased the tension.
For the first time, British security and immigration specialists will join French coastal patrols, which will increase by 40%.
London has agreed to contribute 72 million euros to the new plan
.
Braverman has warned that it is only part of the solution and that it will take time to bear fruit.
accommodation for immigrants
The scandal at the Manston center in Kent, where
more than 6,000 immigrants were crammed into temporary facilities
, exposed Suella Braverman as soon as she returned to her post, after having resigned with
Liz Truss
.
Braverman herself was accused of blocking the transfer of immigrants to hotels, citing the high cost to taxpayers.
The Government plans to announce soon the destination of "big sites", such as disused residences for students, to temporarily house immigrants.
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