Braverman response to Rwandan ‘internment’ camp
On a balcony overlooking the rudimentary buildings at a Rwandan internment camp, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is pictured throwing back her head in raucous laughter. Having had a tour round the facilities where she has proposed to hold migrants – whether those seeking asylum for human rights reasons, to escape modern slavery or otherwise – while their papers and cases are processed, she looked around the facilities and joked: “I really like your interior designer. I need some advice for myself.” I’m not sure why her trip to the Central African country prompted such levity by the Home Secretary. Claiming asylum in a foreign country is not something done on a whim. Most often, the people seeking refuge in the UK are escaping persecution, human rights abuses or war-torn countries. Even dealing with criminal illegal immigration is not a laughing matter. The UK government has failed to tackle this and should be taking serious and constructive steps to deal with this issue. Whatever the reason for a person seeking refuge in the UK, this is a shockingly immoral policy. It is also arguably illegal – a Court of Appeal judge ruled that a group of asylum seekers can challenge Braverman’s policy due to the dangers of deporting them.
This approach to immigration by the Tories is no surprise. When I was leader of the SNP at Westminster, I faced off weekly with Theresa May, the architect of the original ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy. Her legacy set the tone for successive Conservative governments.