Asylum seekers ‘criminalised’ the moment they arrive here

BRIAN WALSH, The Croft, Hoylandswaine

The comments on immigration from Miriam Cates, the MP for Penistone and Stockbridge, published in the Barnsley Chronicle last week require challenge.

Basically this government’s policy to create ‘offshore processing’ by sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is ethically dubious, lacking in humanity and will lead to comprehensive legal opposition.

Britain’s was one of the original signatures on the 1951 Refugee Convention which guaranteed that people fleeing persecution would be able to lead a dignified and independent life while waiting for refugee status be decided.

The spirit behind this principle has been reversed by essentially criminalising asylum seekers immediately upon arrival because they haven’t used legal routes to Britain which normally do not exist.

The personal stress and uncertainty created is significant especially as the assumption of guilt before innocence pervades the whole process.

Of course the people smugglers are odious and there will be false claims made by the minority of asylum seekers but it is unclear that the Rwanda scheme will solve these issues.

It is relevant that similar attempts in Australia have, at best, been minimally successful while creating mental health problems for asylum seekers and social difficulties for the host nations of small islands like Nauru.

The Rwanda scheme is massively expensive with total costs estimated in the hundreds of millions.

For example, the cost of sending one asylum seeker to Rwanda exceeds that of supporting a victim of domestic abuse by a factor of 20.

Politically it has become a ‘flagship’ policy for the Conservative Party, causing an inappropriate imbalance which does not enable attention to be focused on the NHS, public services and the cost-of-living crisis.

It was, however, positive that amendments by a very small minority of socalled ‘rebel’ Conservatives MPs failed to make the Rwandan bill even more severe.

Immigration of all types, which includes a relatively small number of so-called ‘illegal asylum seekers’, will always remain a difficult issue both politically and for those people whose daily lives are affected either at home or at work.

This particular issue could be eased by a large increase of staff to assess asylum claims and by the establishment of legal routes of entry to the UK.