A British minister has attacked the “humanitarian nimbyism” practised by politicians who rhetorically welcome refugees but then fail to share the burden caused by illegal immigration.
In a speech at the centre-right Policy Exchange think tank on Tuesday, immigration minister Robert Jenrick defended the government’s Illegal Migration Bill and criticised opposition politicians and local authorities for virtue-signalling at taxpayers’ expenses.
He said: “For too long, our migration debate has been dominated by humanitarian nimbyism, whereby members of Parliament and devolved administrations have rhetorically welcomed refugees, but then failed to take their fair share. They declare themselves nations of sanctuary and then pull up the drawbridge.
‘Nation of Sanctuary’
Jenrick’s criticism appears to be aimed at the Labour-controlled Welsh government and the Scottish National Party (SNP), which governs Scotland in collaboration with the Scottish Greens.The Welsh government said at the time it believes that “improvements need to be made to the standard of accommodation for asylum seekers, the financial support asylum seekers receive and the funding provided to Welsh public services to support integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales, regardless of their route to the UK.”
Last week, it emerged that the Welsh government plans to include asylum seekers in its universal basic income scheme, which means at least some illegal immigrants would be eligible to receive £1,600 of taxpayers’ money a month.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Parliament on April 19 that the UK government had written to the Welsh government confirming “we would not be undertaking their request.”
He suggested that the Labour Party is effectively “paying” for illegal immigrants to cross the English Channel in small boats.
Rhetoric versus Action
Jenrick has previously accused the SNP administration in Scotland of failing to match its pro-immigration rhetoric with sufficient actions.In a debate on the Illegal Migration Bill on March 14, he said the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea has taken more illegal immigrants than the whole of Scotland.
He said: “In fact, there are more migrants housed in contingency accommodation in Kensington than there are in the entirety of Scotland. The SNP’s message is clear—‘Refugees welcome, but not in SNP Scotland.’”
Alison Thewliss MP, the SNP’s home affairs spokesperson, said Scotland had accepted more than 20 percent of all UK arrivals of Ukrainian refugees and more than 3,000 Syrians.
“Let’s not forget it is the Home Office who controls where people are dispersed to, and are responsible for the misery of people languishing in inadequate accommodation due to the decision-making backlog,” she said.
In a debate on Dec. 19, 2022, Jenrick said that it “isn’t fair and equitable” that only one Scottish city—Glasgow—was “pulling its fair share” in terms of housing asylum seekers.
He added: “The Scottish government are refusing to take any of the asylum seekers who are arriving in the UK on small boats. That is not right. There is a widening gulf between the actions of the Scottish government and their rhetoric.”
‘Astronomical’ Numbers
In his speech on Tuesday, Jenrick said that “the basic fact is undeniable that the number of people who are willing and able to reach the UK today is astronomical and vastly outnumbers what we are capable or willing to take as a country.”He said illegal immigrants “tend to have completely different lifestyles and values to those in the UK, and tend to settle in already hyper-diverse areas, undermining the cultural cohesiveness that binds diverse groups together and makes our proud multi-ethnic democracy so successful.”
He added: “The current numbers of people arriving here illegally surpass any reasonable numbers that the state could be expected to provide for, or integrate successfully into our national community. And it is for the most disadvantaged in our society that feel this most acutely.”
The minister defended the Illegal Migration Bill, saying it “goes further than ever before to sever the link between entering Britain illegally from a safe country like France and staying here to live and to work.”
He insisted the proposed legislation “does not turn our back on those in genuine need, quite the reverse.”
“The bill provides, for the first time, a coherent vision for a humanitarian system that is fit for the 21st century, in which the UK can be an even greater force for good in the world, where a zero tolerance approach to illegal migration is coupled with generous resettlement routes and grounded in control and in democratic consent.
“Instead of taking those people who’ve travelled through and left safe European countries, we will bypass the smugglers to focus our finite resources as a nation on those coming through our dedicated safe and legal routes,” he added.
