The UK Government Is Introducing New Immigration Policies
Following the French opposition to the extradition of migrants who enter the UK illegally via shared waters between the two countries, the UK government intends to transfer them to other countries until their immigration status is clarified. The UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, who proposed the plan, intends to send migrants to locations such as Turkey, the Isle of Man or Gibraltar. Islands off the coast of Scotland are said to be considered as other options. Priti Patel, who has repeatedly stated that she will prevent asylum-seekers from reaching the UK, has called on the British Navy to prevent them from arriving by sea. According to media reports, the Home Secretary has asked Home Office experts to consider sending asylum-seekers to the South Atlantic island of St Helena. Priti Patel has told Home Office staff that asylum-seekers can be sent to the remote island while they wait for their asylum application to be processed. Priti Patel is a member of the Conservative Party, a British politician and the Home Secretary. She was Secretary of State for International Development in Theresa May’s 2016 and 2017 governments, but was forced to resign in November 2017 after a secret visit to Israel without the knowledge of the UK Prime Minister. She gave money to the Israeli army from the UK government’s international aid fund to build a camp. There have been numerous reports of misconduct, coercion, abuse of power, and mismanagement by Priti Patel.
Patel claims that she has spoken with the officials of the above-mentioned countries and obtained their agreement. Hours after the news broke, the Gibraltar government reacted to the Home Secretary’s claim, calling it baseless speculation by the London government. The UK government, like the Australian government, plans to send refugees to remote islands, such as Gibraltar or the Isle of Man, or other countries while their applications is being processed. Under the UK Home Office plan, like the controversial Australian government plan to send refugees to remote islands to process their applications, asylum-seekers will not be accepted in the UK and will be sent to remote islands at the time of application.
Human Rights Organisations Protest the Inhumane Plan of the UK Government
At the same time, charities have called UK’s proposal “inhumane” and experts have warned of legal obstacles. Immigration experts believe that such an inhumane plan could have legal consequences and even lead to litigation. Patel is set to present a plan to transform the British immigration system shortly, which she calls fair but firm. She claims that she will define legal routes in the plan for immigrants from war-torn countries. Saint Helena is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean and a British Overseas Territory. The island was discovered in 1502 and used by the British as place of exile for many years. The island’s most famous prisoner was Napoleon Bonaparte, who spent the last years of his life in exile under British supervision. The population of St Helena was estimated at 4,255 during the 2008 census, down from 5,008 in the previous ten years. The island is one of the most remote parts of the world, two thousand kilometres off the coast of West Africa. The British Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea. Those who emigrate from peaceful countries will not be granted asylum and will be transferred to third countries. The process is said to take months or even years. The misguided and undemocratic policy has led to widespread protests in the UK, with experts warning that such a move could lead to widespread violence and discrimination against immigrants and increase sectarianism in Britain.
The Fate of Donald Trump Awaits Boris Johnson
Statistics show that 8,420 migrants entered the south west coast of England illegally by crossing the English Channel from France last year. Since the beginning of this year (2021), 800 people have entered the UK illegally. With the withdrawal of the EU from the refugee reception plan, UK shrugged off its member states; however, the continued illegal entry of migrants and the lack of cooperation by the government in Paris to prevent people from crossing the channel has become the Achilles heel of British immigration policy. Human rights activists likened the UK Home Secretary’s immigration austerity measures to those of the former US president and warned of a repeat of Donald Trump’s fate. During his four years in office, Trump pursued the toughest immigration policies against Muslim countries in general.
The British government’s approach has been widely criticised by human rights activists. In the past year, however, a total of just under 21,000 asylum-seekers have entered the UK in various ways, making it the sixth largest economy in the world. Some analysts in the UK, referring to the reception of hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers by some less developed or poor countries, called the UK government’s austerity measures for this number of asylum-seekers shameful.