The plan presented by the UK government yesterday to stop illegal immigration was deemed “illegal and inhumane” by Human Rights Watch (HRW), while Amnesty International claims there is “nothing fair, humane or even practical” in it. proposal issued by the Secretary of the Interior, Suella Braverman. The government’s idea is to send a simple message: “If you enter the UK illegally you will be arrested and quickly deported, back to your country if safe or to a safe third country such as Rwanda”, with which the British have already signed protocols. .
The plan stipulates that anyone crossing the Channel in small boats will be held for 28 days, without coercion or judicial redress, until they can be deported from the country. Migrants will not be able to claim they are victims of “modern slavery” to avoid being deported. Only minors under the age of 18, people who cannot fly for medical reasons or who are at “real risk” of serious harm in the country they are being sent to, can appeal to avoid deportation. All other requests will not be heard until they leave the UK.
In practice, the “obligation to remove” takes precedence over the right to asylum, something human rights organizations consider illegal. The minister herself admits that she cannot say “with certainty” that the proposal does not violate human rights treaties, despite being convinced that the law is compatible with international obligations. The deputies will debate the issue next Monday.
In 2018, 300 people were detected crossing the English Channel. More than 45,000 reached British shores last year. In 2013, the number is almost three thousand. Braverman claims that without a change in the law, 100 million people could seek asylum in the country. A number that is contested by the Refugee Council, which reminds that “no refugee wants to leave his country and that 75% remain in a neighboring country”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who visited a control center in Dover yesterday, said this was a “complex” problem and the situation was not “sustainable”. Sunak also explained that he tried “every other way” and “nothing worked”, hence the gamble on deterrence. The UK has already reached an agreement with France to tighten controls in the English Channel and with Albania to step up expulsions to this country.
Labor has criticized the proposal, claiming it is not a solution and could even exacerbate the problem. “It’s just more chaos,” said Secretary of the Interior Yvette Cooper, who claimed that Braverman will “talk and find someone to blame if everything goes wrong” over the next year.
Source: DN
