The British government is today unveiling its anti-irregular immigration bill, which essentially bans those arriving across the Channel from seeking asylum in Britain, which is at the limit of international law.
Three days before his first visit to France, the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he appears determined to stop irregular migrants from crossing the Channel to his country, an issue that often causes tension between Paris and London.
This new one bill provides that anyone arriving in Britain illegally will not be able to apply for asylum and will be immediately sent to a safe third country, Sunak said in an article published in The Sun newspaper today.
“Those who arrive here by small boat are not departing from a country at war nor facing immediate danger to their lives. On the contrary, they have passed through safe European countries before crossing the Channel,” he stressed.
“The fact that they are doing this is unfair to those who come here legally. Enough (…) The new bill will send a clear message that if you come to this country illegally, you will be immediately removed,” noted the British prime minister.
Last year more than 45,000 Immigrants arrived in Britain via this dangerous sea route (mainly Albanians and Afghans, but also Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians). So far this year, irregular migrant arrivals are approaching 3,000.
According to press leaks, the Tory Sunak government’s bill includes measures to make it easier to detain and deport illegal immigrants, who would be banned from entering the UK for life.
“The prime minister and I have worked tirelessly to ensure a bill that works, we have gone as far as international law allows,” British Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the Daily Telegraph, responding to criticism from those who say the bill is against international law. fair enough.
“We need to stop the boats and that’s what our bill will do: No more half-measures or hesitance to make tough decisions,” he added. “If you come here illegally, you should not be able to stay,” emphasized the minister.
“Non-applicable” proposals
With these very strict measures the British government wants to discourage migrants from making the dangerous journey and break the economic model of traffickers who demand exorbitant sums.
Refugee aid organizations respond that the increasingly strict immigration bills have had no effect, that migrants will only be deterred if the authorities propose legal ways to grant asylum in Britain, which is currently not happening.
“If you’re fleeing persecution or war, if you’re fleeing Afghanistan or Syria and you fear for your life, how will you be able to apply for asylum in Britain?” asked Christina Marriott, director of the British Red Cross. .
“If people are to be deported, where does the government intend to send them?” commented Care4Calais.
A bill passed last year in Britain would see asylum seekers deported to Rwanda, but has not yet been implemented due to legal challenges.
Labor sees the bill as a distraction ahead of local elections in May, when the Conservatives’ popularity is on the wane after 13 years in power: “I don’t think putting forward unworkable proposals is going to get us very far,” he said. Labor leader Keir Starmer.
Conversations in France
A spokesman for Sunak assured that the government is considering creating “legal and safe” migration routes, as requested by groups defending the rights of migrants, without giving further details.
Besides, he added that this will only happen “as soon as we have put our borders under control”.
The British prime minister is going to Paris on Friday where he will meet with the French president Emmanuel Macron, a few months after the two countries signed a cooperation agreement, which mainly provides for the provision of financial assistance to the British to supervise the French coast and the sending of British observers on French soil.
The issue has often been at the center of a row between France and Britain, with Paris criticized for not doing enough to prevent migrants from making the dangerous crossing.
Amid a cost-of-living crisis, the government’s handling of immigration is a source of contention and tension for many Britons.
In mid-February, a far-right demonstration outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Liverpool resulted in violent conflicts with the police. Other anti-immigrant protests have taken place in several British cities, including Saturday in Dover.
In this small town in south-east England, residents are wary of the new bill: “It’s being done for show, even the government knows it won’t work,” said one resident who wished to remain anonymous.
The rage for immigration has played a key role in British politics over the past decade and was used by Brexit campaigners ahead of the 2016 referendum.
Immigration control is the third most important issue to British voters, after the economy and the public health system, according to a YouGov poll in November, with 87% of respondents believing the government is handling the issue badly.
Source: CNN Greece
