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LONDON: Britain’s interior minister was facing criticism on Tuesday for describing migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats as an “invasion. ” Home secretary Suella Braverman used the term while defending conditions at a processing centre for new arrivals where some 4,000 people have been held in a facility intended for 1,600.
Braverman referred to small-boat crossings on Monday as “the invasion of our southern coast” and said “illegal immigration is out of control”. Her deputy, immigration minister Robert Jenrick, distancedhimself from her words. “In a job like mine you have to choose your words carefully,” he told Sky News. “I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life. ” PM Rishi Sunak told hiscabinet on Tuesday that Britain “would always be a compassionate, welcoming country,” his spokesman said.
The number of asylum-seekers attempting to reach Britain by boat has increased steadily, and the system for considering applications has slowed to a crawl. Manston — a former airfield inEngland — is supposed to be a temporary processing centre where new arrivals spend 24 hours before moving on to longer-term accommodation, but refugee groups say some people have been stuck there for weeks. Some families are sleeping in tents,and there have been cases of diphtheria and scabies.
Critics accuse Braverman of deliberately worsening conditions at Manston by refusing to book hotel rooms for asylum seekers. The government said “large numbers” of people were being moved out of Manston on Tuesday to relieve pressure and that another facility in Dover that was firebombed on the weekend had reopened.
Britain has announced a plan to send people who arrive in small boats on a one-way journey to Rwanda — a plan it says will deter people from crossing the Channel.
Braverman referred to small-boat crossings on Monday as “the invasion of our southern coast” and said “illegal immigration is out of control”. Her deputy, immigration minister Robert Jenrick, distancedhimself from her words. “In a job like mine you have to choose your words carefully,” he told Sky News. “I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life. ” PM Rishi Sunak told hiscabinet on Tuesday that Britain “would always be a compassionate, welcoming country,” his spokesman said.
The number of asylum-seekers attempting to reach Britain by boat has increased steadily, and the system for considering applications has slowed to a crawl. Manston — a former airfield inEngland — is supposed to be a temporary processing centre where new arrivals spend 24 hours before moving on to longer-term accommodation, but refugee groups say some people have been stuck there for weeks. Some families are sleeping in tents,and there have been cases of diphtheria and scabies.
Critics accuse Braverman of deliberately worsening conditions at Manston by refusing to book hotel rooms for asylum seekers. The government said “large numbers” of people were being moved out of Manston on Tuesday to relieve pressure and that another facility in Dover that was firebombed on the weekend had reopened.
Britain has announced a plan to send people who arrive in small boats on a one-way journey to Rwanda — a plan it says will deter people from crossing the Channel.
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