LONDON:
Suella Braverman, the British home secretary, came under fire on Tuesday for calling the entry of asylum seekers an invasion. Lawmakers from all political parties cautioned against using such provocative language.
Her remarks were made the day after a man attacked an immigration processing facility in the port city of Dover using fire bombs.
In reference to the arrival of migrants in small boats over the English Channel, Braverman, who is trying to keep her job after she confessed breaking security standards, told parliament on Monday that she was working to stop the “invasion on our southern shore.”
UK interior minister criticised for calling asylum seekers “invaders”
Following a record number of nearly 40,000 asylum seekers arriving in Britain through small boats so far this year, Robert Jenrick, an immigration minister in Braverman’s interior ministry, claimed that his boss’s rhetoric accurately reflected the scope of the situation.
However, he continued, “I believe that in my capacity, you have to choose your terminology carefully, and we don’t want to see instances like the one that happened in Dover occur again.”
Last Monday, six days after she resigned from the same position for breaking ministerial norms by emailing a critical government document via her personal email, Braverman was reappointed interior minister by new prime minister Rishi Sunak.
Additionally, she has been accused of ignoring legal counsel regarding the protracted detention of migrants at another processing centre and neglecting to arrange for sufficient housing, all of which accusations she has refuted.
Her predecessors had secured alternate housing, including motels, but that had halted when she took charge, according to Roger Gale, a legislator in Braverman’s ruling Conservative Party whose district includes that centre.
He told Times Radio, “I don’t accept or trust this home secretary’s word. She only really wants to play to the right wing, I think.
Last week, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Neal described the situation at the Manston site in Kent as “quite terrible.” People were discovered sleeping on the floor, some of whom were denied access to cellphones, and who were not permitted to completely seal the doors to the restrooms.
Numbers have increased to more than double the intended 1,500 migrant capacity, with one Afghan family reporting that they had been there for 32 days.
Braverman told lawmakers, “Let’s stop pretending they are all refugees in trouble; the whole public knows that is not true.
The opposition Labour Party’s spokeswoman for home affairs, Yvette Cooper, claimed that the rhetoric has gotten worse in line with the performance of the government.
The day after a dangerous petrol bomb attack on a Dover initial processing centre, she claimed, “no Home Secretary who was serious with public safety or national security would use highly provocative rhetoric.”
