Suella Braverman defiant after UN condemns Channel’s migrant plan

Suella Braverman sounded defiant today as the UN condemned plans to prevent Channel migrants from seeking asylum in the UK.

The interior minister stressed that drastic measures are needed to deal with the crisis and the “simple truth is that we cannot accept everyone who wants to come.”

Despite an outpouring of criticism from human rights groups, with the UNHCR calling it a ‘clear violation’ of the Refugee Convention, Ms Braverman said the measures had been approved by an ‘army of lawyers’ in the government. “We very strongly consider our proposals to be lawful,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

She argued that making it clear that people cannot skip the line to settle in the UK by taking the perilous journey would have a deterrent effect and reduce numbers.

Rishi Sunak will later take on Keir Starmer at PMQs after laying out the hard blueprint for ‘stopping the boats’ yesterday.

The Prime Minister will no doubt be challenged on how the legislation will work in practice and how it will stand up to anticipated legal challenges.

A group is brought ashore at Dover after crossing the English Channel earlier this week

Mr Sunak stated last night that he was ‘in the fight’ against those opposed to the Illegal Migration Bill, designed to prevent people from seeking asylum in the UK if they arrive by unauthorized means.

He added that he was “convinced” that the government would win the legal battle because of the “tough” but “necessary and fair” measures.

Braverman said in an interview this morning that the policy would have a deterrent effect and that the number of crossings would “drop dramatically.”

“We will see, based on the experience of other countries, that once we are able to relocate people who have come here illegally from the UK to another safe country, such as Rwanda, or back to their own country, then, in fact, “the number of people making the trip at all will fall dramatically,” she said.

Asked how the government will build the detention areas needed to house the tens of thousands of people crossing the channel, the Home Secretary told the BBC: ‘We don’t need to build 50,000 new detention places.

“We’re going to increase our detention capacity, that’s for sure.”

Ms Braverman also stood by her claim yesterday that ‘there are 100 million people around the world who could be eligible for protection under our current laws’ and ‘they are coming here’.

She said this morning: “I see it as my role to be honest… I will not shy away from showing the magnitude of the problem we face.

“The UN itself has confirmed that there are over 100 million people displaced worldwide due to a variety of factors such as conflict or persecution…and these are many people eager to come to the UK.

“The simple truth is that we cannot accept everyone who wants to come to the UK.”

Ms Braverman admitted to MPs yesterday that there is a ‘more (than) 50 percent chance’ that the legislation is not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Announcing the plans in the House of Commons, Ms Braverman said asylum seekers arriving illegally will be held for 28 days without bail or judicial review before being ‘swiftly removed’ to their home country or a ‘safe third country’ such as Rwanda.

They face a lifelong ban from returning after being deported and will never be allowed to settle in the country or acquire citizenship.

The feasibility of the bill has been questioned as plans such as the forced deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda have been mired in legal challenges.

Asylum applications peaked at 74,751 last year, involving 89,398 individuals – the highest since 2002

Small boat arrivals peaked at nearly 9,000 per month in the summer

Home Office figures show how the number of detected illegal immigration attempts has risen – dominated by Channel boat arrivals

But Conservative MP Richard Graham expressed optimism about the courts ruling on Britain’s refugee policy, telling BBC Newsnight ‘there are interesting indications that our case is actually being listened to in Strasbourg’.

Mr Sunak told a press conference in Downing Street that migrants arriving illegally in the UK will be removed ‘within weeks’ and that the bill will apply ‘retroactively’ if passed.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said it was “deeply concerned” about the bill and that if passed it would amount to an “asylum ban”.

Vicky Tennant, UNHCR representative in the UK, told Newsnight: ‘We believe this is a clear breach of the Refugee Convention. And don’t forget that even people with very compelling claims simply don’t get the chance to put them forward.’

Critics also included BBC presenter Gary Lineker, who was denounced by the broadcaster after writing on Twitter: “This is just an immeasurably cruel policy aimed at the most vulnerable people in a language not unlike that used by Germany in the 1970s. thirty.’

In an email to Tory members, the Home Secretary claimed previous attempts to end the Channel crossing without resorting to legislative change had been blocked by “an activist group of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labor Party.”

Mr Sunak will meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday to discuss further cooperation that will be needed to reduce boat crossings.