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The UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has come under fire from the opposition and refugee activists for labelling an increase in the number of refugees arriving on the country’s shores seeking asylum as a “invasion” by migrants at the border.
An Indian-origin Cabinet minister told Parliament on Monday night that the amount of individuals entering the nation illegally is “out of control” and that the asylum system is “broken,” with the English Channel’s ability to handle the influx of migrants making it impossible to provide for everyone.
Her statement came in the aftermath of a violent incident involving a petrol bomb attack at one of England’s southern migration centres over the weekend.
In the House of Commons, Ms. Braverman remarked, “The British people deserve to know which party is serious about preventing the invasion on our southern shore, and which party is not.”
“More than 40,000 visitors have come to the south shore only this year.” Let’s stop acting like they are all desperate refugees since many of them were helped by criminal groups and some of them are actually members of such gangs. This is untrue, as the entire nation is aware. Only the opposition claims otherwise, according to her.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, her junior minister in the Home Office, was forced to defend the statement, saying his boss was correct to be open with the public about the “sheer scale” of illegal migration.
In a job like mine, you have to pick your words carefully. And I would never demonise people who come to this country in search of a better life,” he told ‘Sky News’ when asked about the phrase.
However, he stated that referring to people crossing the Channel as a “invasion” was a way to emphasise the magnitude of the challenge, “and that’s what Suella Braverman was trying to express.”
The opposition Labour Party accused the Home Secretary of using “highly inflammatory” language, while the Scottish National Party (SNP) said such “incendiary language makes a mockery of [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak’s claims about so-called compassionate conservatism.”
Ms Braverman’s language was also condemned by the Refugee Council of the United Kingdom.
Following reports of overcrowding at a UK Border Force processing centre in Manston, Kent, on England’s southern coast, the opposition has increased pressure on the government.
The site is only meant to house 1,000 people for 48 hours before being relocated, but there are currently around 4,000 migrants there. Hundreds more people were transferred to the Manston facility over the weekend following the petrol bomb attack, which Ms Braverman told MPs was not a terrorist act.
According to a report in ‘The Times,’ Ms Braverman obstructed the transfer of asylum seekers from Manston to new hotels, despite legal advice that the government was illegally detaining people there.
“I confirm that I have never disregarded legal advice… What I will say is that I am not willing to release migrants into the Kent community who have no fixed address. That is an unacceptable option to me “She stated this in response to a question in Parliament.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been questioned about his decision to appoint Ms Braverman as Home Secretary since he appointed her last week, but he has stood by her. She resigned from the same position in his predecessor Liz Truss’ Cabinet after sending sensitive policy documents from her personal email, violating the ministerial code.
She told MPs this week that it was “clear I made a mistake of judgement…I accepted responsibility for it, and I resigned.”
