Suella Braverman said it would “betray” British voters not to tackle the “waves of illegal migrants breaching our border” as she unveiled plans for new laws to crack down on Channel crossings.
The Home Secretary said legislation would be introduced to remove asylum seekers and ban them from re-entry if they arrive in the UK through unauthorised means. She told MPs: “For a Government not to respond to waves of illegal migrants breaching our borders would be to betray the will of the people we were elected to serve.”
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday (March 7), Ms Braverman said: “They will not stop coming here until the world knows that if you enter Britain illegally you will be detained and swiftly removed. Removed back to your country if it is safe, or to a safe third country like Rwanda. And that is precisely what this Bill will do. That is how we will stop the boats.”
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Meanwhile Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit Dover and will set out the plan during a press conference. Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded the Bill a “con” and described the plans as “Groundhog Day” in the wake of criticism from campaigners who said the proposed policy would be unworkable.
But Ms Braverman said the need for reform is “obvious and urgent” as the asylum system now costs the British taxpayer more than £3 billion a year. She said the Government has not “sat on its hands”, outlining measures already taken, but added: “We’re procuring accommodation, including on military land, to end the farce of accommodating migrants in hotels.
“Let’s be honest, it’s still not enough. In the face of today’s global migration crisis, yesterday’s laws are simply not fit for purpose.”
The Bill allows the detention of illegal arrivals without bail or judicial review within the first 28 days of detention, until they can be removed, Ms Braverman said. It also places a duty on the Home Secretary to remove illegal entrants and it will “radically narrow the number of challenges and appeals that can suspend removal”.
Only children under the age of 18, and those who are “unfit to fly or at a real risk of serious and irreversible harm – an exceedingly high bar – in the country we are removing them to will be able to delay their removal”, she said. Any other claims will be heard “remotely” after removal.
The Bill will also introduce an annual cap, to be decided by Parliament, on the number of refugees the UK will offer sanctuary to through safe and legal routes, Ms Braverman said. She also made a direct plea to migrants not to fall prey to people smugglers and cross the Channel.
“Do not hand over your life savings, do not get into that flimsy dinghy, do not risk your life, because you will not be entitled to a life in the UK,” she told MPs.
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