Rishi Sunak's “Stop the Boats” slogan was first used by conservatives in Australia 10 years ago. The Prime Minister stood behind a lectern with the message on it during a press conference on Tuesday.
The Government introduced legislation on Tuesday which would mean that asylum seekers arriving illegally in the UK would be detained and face a lifetime ban on returning after they were removed. They said people who come to the UK illegally would also be denied access to the UK's modern slavery laws.
Former Australian Liberal Party Prime Minister Tony Abbott coined the phrase "stop the boats" in his 2013 election campaign. The aim was to prevent asylum seekers from entering Australia by sea. Abbott vowed that he would “stop the boats” within his first term of Government.
Within weeks of the election victory for Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition, the government launched Operation Sovereign Borders. The scheme was supposed to ward off people smuggling.
It included turning boats back and sending arrivals to offshore detention centres on the Pacific nation of Nauru or the Papua New Guinean island of Manus. Asylum seekers had already been held offshore between 2001 and 2008 and the policy had been reintroduced by the outgoing Labor government in 2012.
In the first 12 months after the policy was brought in, more people arrived by sea seeking asylum than ever before in the country’s history. This meant that the offshore processing centres were full and the government stopped sending people offshore in 2014.
But the target to “stop the boats” was effectively achieved, as the number of boats arriving in the country radically reduced. This was mostly because of the navy intercepting the boats and turning them back.
There have been massive problems with the detention centres at a cost of more than 10million Australian dollars in just over 10 years. Twelve people have died in the camps, with murder by guards, suicide and medical neglect all causes. The conditions are reported to be dire with poor hygiene and a lack of facilities.
The United Nations have said that Australia’s system in unlawful and and violates their convention against torture. The Manus Island centre was eventually ruled illegal and had to shut. Australia had to then pay more than 1,000 people who had been kept there $70m.
The Nauru centre still exists and there have been reports of sexual abuse of children, assault and neglect. Australia turning back asylum seeker boats is illegal under international law according to the UN.
Despite these problems, the UK Government seems intent on copying the Australian system. Not only has Sunak adopted the same slogan, but he also plans to send asylum seekers who arrive in the UK to Rwanda.
He has already faced legal challenges and his most recent attempt to defer people from crossing the Channel - by handing out a lifetime ban to those who do - is likely to do the same. Sunak has also stopped short of saying he would turn boats back. This may be because it could be more difficult to do so in the busy English Channel than off the coast of Australia.
Even though Sunak may be inspired by Abbott’s campaign to “Stop the Boats” and the fact that it helped him win the 2013 election, he could face a similar ending. Abbott was ousted two years after he won the election, with his party behind in poll after poll.
Sunak will also face a test two years into his leadership, as there will be a general election. His Conservative party has been behind Labour in poll after poll.
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