British Home Secretary Suella Braverman yesterday insisted small boat crossings to the UK by migrants would “fall dramatically” under her asylum plans, as the Tory government faced a backlash over its latest moves to halt migrants entering.
s Braverman says she believed the plans will be legal, despite fierce criticism from the UN.
She was unable to set out when new detention centres for migrants would be built, but said it would be “very clear” by the next election whether her scheme had been a success.
The criticism of plans to prevent anyone who arrives in the UK by unauthorised means from returning has been sharp, with the UN’s refugee agency calling it effectively an “asylum ban”.
Braced for legal challenges to the Illegal Migration Bill which he believes is key to his electoral chances, UK leader Rishi Sunak accused UK Labour leader Keir Starmer of being “just another leftie lawyer standing in our way”.
But questions remain over how successful the radical policy will be, particularly as the Tory policy to forcibly fly asylum seekers to centres in Rwanda has halted by the British courts.
“Once we’re able to relocate people – who’ve come here illegally – from the UK to another safe country like Rwanda, or back to their own home country, then the numbers of people making the journey will fall dramatically,” Ms Braverman said.
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She claimed it was a “possibility” that up to 80,000 people could enter the UK by crossing the English Channel on small boats this year.
In a letter to MPs, she also conceded there is a “more than 50pc chance” her legislation may not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
During a bitter exchange in the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak was also unable to say when he would meet his pledge to “stop the boats”.
Mr Starmer said Sunak should be “apologising, not gloating” over the increasing numbers of small boat crossings. He accused the Tories of “utter failure” with its immigration plans, and warned the “problem just gets worse with every new gimmick”.
Mr Sunak responded: “Stopping the boats is not just my priority, it is the people’s priority. But his [Starmer’s] position on this is clear. He wanted to scrap the Rwanda deal, he voted against measures to deport foreign criminals, and he even argued against deportation flights.
“He’s just another leftie lawyer standing in our way.”
Mr Starmer, a former head of the Crown Prosecution Service, went on to highlight the number of people returned last year after they were deemed ineligible for asylum.
He said: “All that nonsense because he doesn’t want to answer the questions, because he knows the answer – just 21 people out of the 18,000. And what happens to the rest? They sit in hotels for months on end, at taxpayers’ expense.”
Labour has confirmed that the party’s MPs would be instructed to vote against the Illegal Migration Bill.
The plans announced on Tuesday would deport migrants who arrive through unauthorised means and hit them with a lifetime ban from returning. Anyone crossing the Channel in a small boat would be eligible for asylum only in a “safe” third country – such as Rwanda.
Powers would be granted to detain migrants for 28 days without bail or judicial review, and then indefinitely for as long as there is a “reasonable prospect” of removal.
The UN refugee agency said it was “profoundly concerned” by the bill and urged British politicians to reject it.
(© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2023)