Home Secretary blasts 'phoney humanitarianism' for small boats failure

Speaking in the wake of a Court of Appeal decision which found Suella Braverman’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda were “unlawful”, she blasted the decision as “disappointing for the majority of the British people”.

Many are calling on the Home Secretary to resign following the court's announcement. 

“This judgment is disappointing for the majority of the British people who have repeatedly voted for controlled migration and for all those who want to see us deliver on our moral and democratic imperative to stop the boats,” she said.

“This is a disappointing judgment and we will seek permission to appeal it. We hope that the process will be swift and I am glad that the Court of Appeal has recognised in paragraph 16 of its summary judgment that this is an important consideration that should be dealt with in a timely fashion.”

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Braverman had earlier insisted the judgment did not mean Rwanda was an unsafe country for migrants to be sent to.

She told MPs: “Unfortunately, two of the judges were of the view that there were deficiencies in the Rwandan asylum system that risked there being a breach of Article 3 of the ECHR.

“Importantly, their concerns were not that conditions in Rwanda would be unsafe, but that there was a possibility that they could be returned to other countries from Rwanda where they may suffer ill treatment.

“It is, therefore, simply incorrect to say that the Court of Appeal has found that conditions in Rwanda make it unsafe for individuals there. The Court of Appeal has ruled, instead, that there is a risk of refoulement to other countries from Rwanda.”

Refoulement refers to the practice of sending an asylum seeker to a country where they are likely to face persecution.

The Home Secretary then said that “phoney humanitarianism” was “lining the pockets of people smugglers”.

“It is unfair on those most in need of protection, in particular women, children and those without the money to pay the people smugglers, that our asylum system is overwhelmed by fit young men who have paid criminals thousands of pounds to smuggle them into the UK.

Demonstrators outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Image: PA)

“It is unfair on people and our partners in the developing world, that we in the West continue to maintain an asylum system so open to abuse that it incentivises mass flows of economic migration into Europe, lining the pockets of people smugglers and turning our seas into graveyards, all in the name of a phoney humanitarianism.

“This is madness and it must end. That is why we on this side of the House are committed to doing whatever it takes to stop the boats.

“The Government remains resolute that we will do exactly that in partnership with Rwanda and through changes to our law.

Campaigners and asylum seekers have hailed the Court of Appeal result as a victory.

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Duncan Lewis Solicitors, which represented seven of the asylum seekers who were due to be on the first flight to Rwanda in June last year, said: “Government officials were well aware of the crucial deficiencies in Rwanda’s asylum system from the inception of this policy.

“The Secretary of State glossed over and failed to properly examine the adequacy of Rwanda’s asylum system. The Secretary of State for the Home Department is not above the law, and today the Court of Appeal has today ruled that these material deficiencies in Rwanda’s asylum system render removals unlawful.”