Illegal immigrants are fuelling crime and prostitution in the UK, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said.
Speaking in Parliament ahead of another successful step to having her Illegal Migration Bill passed, Braverman said those crossing the English Channel illegally have values “at odds with our country.”
“We are seeing heightened levels of criminality when related to the people who’ve come on boats, related to drug dealing, exploitation, prostitution,” Braverman told the Commons on Wednesday.
“There are real challenges which go beyond the migration issue of people coming here illegally. We need to ensure that we bring an end to the boat crossings.”
Challenged on whether she had statistical evidence to back her claim, the home secretary said she had gathered the information from police chiefs.
Speaking at a subsequent event in Westminster, she said, “I consider police chiefs experts in their field and authoritative sources of information.”
It was “not in all cases,” but she added: “It is becoming a notable feature of everyday crime-fighting in England and Wales.
‘Dog Whistle Remarks’
The government’s immigration legislation cleared the Commons after MPs gave it a third reading by 289 votes to 230, majority 59.That’s despite concern from senior backbench Tories, including former Prime Minister Theresa May and ex-party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, about the impact the flagship immigration reforms could have on modern slavery protections.
May warned that it will leave more people in slavery in the UK, calling it a “slap in the face” for anyone who cares about victims of human trafficking.
She told the Commons: “Modern slavery is the greatest human rights issue of our time. The approach in this bill, I believe, will have several ramifications. I believe it will consign victims to remain in slavery.”
Duncan Smith said: “We need to send the right signals about this and I think the problem with this bill right now is it’s unnecessarily now targeting a group of people that are not the problem, themselves will suffer, and ironically we will fail as a government through the home affairs end of it because the police simply won’t be able to get those prosecutions.”
Labour condemned Braverman’s comments about immigrants’ values, with a spokesman calling it the “sort of invective” that signals that the policies being promoted “have failed.”
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, also hit out at her remarks.
“Suella Braverman’s dog whistle remarks about the ‘values’ of migrants being ‘at odds’ with British ‘norms’ are appallingly divisive and shamelessly intended to stoke fear and hatred of people seeking refuge in this country,” he said.
“No-one should suffer such blatant exposure to prejudice and hostility, especially not in the form of highly insensitive remarks from the home secretary.
“The government’s draconian asylum legislation is already set to tear apart legal protections in this country for refugees, victims of human trafficking, and many other people, while Suella Braverman continues pouring petrol on a xenophobic and racist fire they themselves have lit.”
Court Ruling Expected
The Illegal Migration Bill will change the law so people who arrive in the UK illegally will be detained and then promptly removed, either to their home country or a safe third country such as Rwanda.The government says this will deter people arriving in the UK through “illegal, dangerous, or unnecessary methods,” such as on small boats that cross the English Channel.
Critics of the bill have dismissed the proposed legislation as unworkable, while right-wing Tory MPs believe it does not go far enough.
Other Tories want greater protections for minors and victims of human trafficking.
Ministers have already given in to some demands to avoid potential revolts, with a series of government amendments approved in the Commons.
The government was unable to say whether the legislation complies with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Although cleared in the Commons, it will face a stiff test in the Lords when it undergoes further scrutiny.
The five-year trial would see some asylum seekers sent to Rwanda on a one-way ticket, to claim asylum there.
They may be granted refugee status to stay in Rwanda. If not, they can apply to settle there on other grounds, or seek asylum in another “safe” country.
More than 45,700 people used this route to come to the UK in 2022, the highest figure since records began.
In December 2022 the High Court said that the Rwanda plan is legal and that it does not breach the U.N.’s Refugee Convention.
However, in January, the High Court ruled that some of the groups who lost the case had the right to appeal against parts of its decision.
The appeal hearing began on Monday with a verdict expected on Thursday.
Flights cannot take off to Rwanda while legal proceedings are ongoing.
