Africa-Press – Rwanda. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Home Secretary Priti Patel have been trying for weeks to quell the surge in illegal border crossing attempts by migrants sailing across the English Channel in small boats. They insist France is not doing enough to deal with an issue that has already led to dozens of deaths at sea.
Several members of the Conservative Party have openly opposed a bill proposed by the government earlier this week to deal with the issue of migrants trying to get to the UK via the English Channel. They’ve since proposed an alternative solution.
Instead of strongly discouraging migrants from crossing into the UK illegally by “pushing back” their boats and forcing them to appeal for asylum offshore, several Tory MPs suggested accepting applications in the migrants’ home countries.
At the core of their proposal is the idea of discouraging the migrants from travelling at all, applying for asylum locally instead. At the same time, those who would still come illegally, would be deported without the chance to successfully appeal for asylum. Right now, the majority of migrants that arrive illegally can appeal for asylum and most obtain it.
Conservative MP Pauline Elizabeth Latham insisted that the proposed idea is “the only viable alternative” that would avert more deaths in the Channel following the capsizing of a boat with migrants in November that claimed the lives of 27 people. Andrew Mitchell, another Conservative lawmaker and a former secretary for international development, also backed the idea, scolding the approach proposed by Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Downing Street has proposed several methods to quell the influx of migrant boats. The government suggested physically repelling the boats and deporting all migrants arriving via “irregular ways”. The Cabinet suggested that instead migrants should apply for asylum offshore – in third countries. Yet, London currently lacks agreements with any third country to accommodate the migrants while their applications are being processed. Norway, Rwanda, and Albania have already turned down such offers.
The UK has largely blamed France for the crisis, saying it has failed to properly monitor the nation’s shores and stop the migrants from setting sail for Britain – a dangerous journey that may result in the deaths of those who attempt it. Paris, for its part, has blamed London for what it calls the UK’s inability to deal with the criminal groups that profit from migrants into the country.
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