Don’t fall for cheap tricks over asylum

YOU just need to look at the plans Whitehall is drawing up to tackle the migrant crisis to work out what is going on.

Machines, Border Force jet skis to turn back boats, offshore processing centres, custom-built reception centres for thousands, and bans on people who cross illegally. None of these things are practical. Most, under international law, are illegal.

The Government knows this, yet it persists with these cheap headline grabbing measures, ignoring that most asylum claims are legitimate and upheld.

Take Hassan Akkad, an English teacher from Damascus, Syria, who stood up to the regime, was imprisoned twice, beaten, finally forced to flee.

Floundering

Hassan’s journey took 87 days. Arriving in Turkey, he boarded an overcrowded boat to Greece and jumped overboard to stop it capsizing. It finally sank – a boat full of children, university professors, teachers. All trying to escape. All desperate. Many died.

Hassan finally made it to the UK on a fake passport. When he got permission to remain here, he worked for the NHS through the pandemic. There are millions of stories like Hassan’s. Remember that as the debate around immigration heats up again.

This is a floundering, populist government adept at using cheap tricks to shore up its standing. Don’t fall for them. As the argument rages, remember that these are some of the most desperate, vulnerable people in the world.

The Government should ensure asylum seekers can be brought here safely, processed quickly and fairly, and housed securely. We should treat these frightened and desperate human beings with the quality Britons have but our government lacks: compassion.