UK government announces tougher stance against illegal immigrants

The British Home Secretary announced on the third day of the Conservative Party Congress that he would further toughen asylum policy. The intention is that no one who enters the country illegally will be allowed to seek asylum. “If you illegally enter our country from a safe country, you must be returned to your own country or deported to Rwanda,” Minister Braverman said.

In her own words, she wants to put a definitive end to migrant boats crossing the Channel, something her predecessors were already aiming for. Anyone entering the country via this route will be inexorably expelled, she said. She also reiterated her party’s previous target of reducing the number of people migrating to the UK to “tens of thousands” from the current figure of 239,000.

The right to seek asylum is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Earlier, the new minister admitted to the Telegraph that it was her “dream” and “obsession” to deport migrants to Rwanda. At the conference, she expressed her ambition to get the first flights to Rwanda off the ground before Christmas.

The plan for flights to Rwanda comes from the previous government (under Boris Johnson) and was approved by former minister Priti Patel. defended to the bone. The Johnson administration hoped this would deter migrants. The new minister wants to continue the controversial plan of her predecessor Patel.

Braverman has previously acknowledged that the Rwandan plan “will be a long time coming” due to legal hurdles. The first flight, which should have taken off last June, was canceled at the last minute stopped by the European Court of Human Rights.

Although the UK is no longer part of the European Union, it is still bound by these regulations. Braverman wants to get rid of it in the future, as do many other members of the Conservatives.

In the meantime, Braverman wants to increase patrols on the arm of the sea between France and England, to intercept boats.

According to the BBC, some 33,500 people have crossed the Channel since the start of this year. This is more than for the whole of 2021. This mainly concerned migrants from Albania, Iran and Afghanistan. The number could rise to 60,000 people this year.

The charity Care4Calais reacted with horror to the plans of the Reuters news agency. According to the organization, most migrants coming to the UK are refugees.

Yesterday, the party convention in Birmingham also made the news. Then Prime Minister Truss and his finance minister, Kwarteng, announced that the most controversial part of the new economic plans was scrapped.

In any case, the government has decided to refrain from lowering taxes for the highest incomes. The plan had caused panic in financial markets the previous week and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned not to let the tax cut pass.