Home secretary Suella Braverman says it is 'simply not possible' for all asylum seekers to enter the UK
HOME secretary Suella Braverman is resisting calls from Tory backbenches for safe and legal migration routes to crack down on small boats crossings.
Calls to create safe routes for asylum seekers came as the Fareham MP gave a statement to her colleagues following the deaths of four people in the English Channel after a small boat capsized. Some backbench Tories advocated removing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) from UK law as a means of tackling migration issues.
Ms Braverman said: ‘I think the reality is that the UK will continue to provide safe and legal routes to those refugees in most need, but the practical truth is that there are 100m people around the globe who would like to leave their country of residence and potentially come to the United Kingdom.
‘That is simply not possible and therefore we do need an element of control, combined with compassion and generosity, but yes control, fairness and legitimacy that underpins any kind of humanitarian arrangement that we have.
‘I am very proud of the track record that this country and this government has demonstrated over recent years.’
Earlier this year, Ms Braverman and her team conceded that there are no legal routes for most asylum seekers to enter the United Kingdom.
Conservatives such as David Simmonds, MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, suggested creating a new legal route for those fleeing Iran.
By contrast, Dudley North MP Marco Longhi appeared to suggest migrants crossing the Channel ‘willingly’ put themselves at risk and called for the home secretary to make the Rwanda plan work in order to deter criminal gangs.
He said: ‘Let us remember this – these are people who willingly put themselves in harm’s way, and criminal gangs would disappear if demand for services went.’
Ms Braverman replied: ‘As he knows, I believe in the ground-breaking partnership that the United Kingdom has struck with Rwanda. I believe that it is a mutually beneficial arrangement, it is compassionate, it is pragmatic and it will be a big step forward in solving the challenge with which we are grappling.
‘It is currently in the courts and we are awaiting a judgment from the High Court which will be due very soon.’