The UK’s Home Secretary is under mounting pressure for her handling of the migrant crossings following the death of Abdulfatah Hamdallah, a 28-year-old Sudanese who drowned in the Channel in his attempt to come to the UK. Analysis by PA Media notes that the number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats this year has passed 5,000, as opposed to 1,900 last year. Priti Patel described the death of Hamdallah as an "upsetting and tragic loss of a young life. This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people.”
Yet, campaigners and human rights activists have criticised the Home Secretary for her “militarised approach” of handling the border crossings as she appointed Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, Dan O’Mahoney to tackle illegal attempts at reaching the UK.
Campaigning against Home Secretary’s hardline approach, Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice said, “The Home Secretary's approach is the wrong one. The current situation needs a humanitarian approach and not a militarised one. It is a totally preventable situation. The UK can put traffickers and smugglers out of business by providing legal routes and processes to claim asylum safely. The UK has a border in France and could easily set up a processing centre there. The UK wasted millions of Pounds in Calais trying to push desperate people back unsuccessfully. It is time the UK changed its strategy and treated people who are fleeing persecution and seeking our protection with dignity and respect.
“People seeking asylum have the right under international laws and the 1951 UN convention on refugees which the UK is a signatory of to claim asylum in the country they arrive at regardless of the way they travel. According to the UK requirements, an asylum seeker needs to be on UK soil to apply. Therefore, it is not possible for asylum seekers to apply from abroad and that is why they take great risk to come to the UK.”
According to the UNHCR, only a minority of refugees attempt to cross-over from Europe. Official statistics record that as of last year France had received 123,900 applications, Germany 142,500 and the UK 35,566. In 2009 the UK was home to 238,000 refugees. In 2019 the number was 133,000 refugees, the UNHCR notes. The organisation has further stated that the UK it now stands as the 26th largest refugee host, down from tenth a decade ago. A decade which included the Arab Spring, Syrian war and European refugee crisis, and yet the UK hosts fewer refugees.
Two years ago, The Guardian had reported that the UK Home Office was also allegedly separating hundreds of children from their parents or carers according to a charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID).
In a study published in 2013, the charity had studied a sample of 111 parents who had been separated from 200 children over a three-year period. The average period of detention had been 270 days. Almost half the 200 children were placed in foster or local authority care during their parent’s detention. In 15 cases, the parent was deported or removed from the UK without their child, a move similar to what the ICE agents in America had been instructed to do under the Trump administration.
Most of these asylum seekers are Iraqi, Iranian, Sudanese, Yemeni, Syrian, Eritrean, Kuwaiti, Tajikistani, Vietnamese, Guinean, Malian, Ethiopian, Turkish, Afghan, Palestinian, Sri Lankan, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Pakistani, Chadian, Somali, Togolese, Nigerian, Libyan, South Sudanese, Albanian and Chinese.
They see Britain as a safe sanctuary and have fled persecution, violence and conflict, and have to risk treacherous journeys just to survive or protect their families. For many who risk their lives to get here, it is the only place where they have surviving family members who can help them.
Ugandan Asians and Hong Kongers receiving British citizenship
The situation in some ways is quite similar yet completely different from when the Ugandan Asians were forced out of Africa and eventually resided in the UK in the ’70s. In 1972, almost 60,000 Ugandan Asians were expelled from the country by President Idi Amin. The British government ultimately permitted 27,000 to move to the UK through the Uganda Resettlement Board. Home Secretary’s parents themselves migrated to the UK from Uganda under those gruelling conditions.
Conservative Peer Lord Dolar Popat has penned the success stories of Ugandan Asians like him in his book ‘A British Subject: How to Make It as an Immigrant in the Best Country in the World’.
Speaking about the current Channel crossings he said, “I am not against immigration. As a former refugee I was welcomed to this great country after being expelled by the brutal dictator Idi Amin in 1972. I, therefore, have a tremendous amount of sympathy for those escaping persecution.
“However, recent events of migrants crossing the channel have caused a lot of distress, because at times it seems like an apparent abuse of the goodwill and hospitality of Britain. There is a formal procedure in place for both migrants escaping persecution and those wishing to settle in the UK for a better life. Both are valid – but people must follow the protocol. What has been witnessed is a complete disregard of this system, with some migrants almost mocking the UK’s immigration process which is designed to be fair and equal to all.
“As I mentioned in my book published last year – “A British Subject: How to Make It as an Immigrant in the Best Country in the World”, immigration isn’t just about coming to the country – it is about adding value to it and making a positive contribution to the Treasury, rather than asking for anything in return. Migrants must learn English, integrate and work hard. Too many immigrant communities live together and keep themselves to themselves. This creates distrust and uncertainty. You need to find ways of becoming part of the wider society. Upon settling here, migrants must undertake civic duties and uphold democracy. This is a really good way of integrating and showing you care about more than your community. It is the contribution of these migrants which is causing unrest. This is in stark contrast to the 3 million Hong Kongers who have been granted British Citizenship legally and who will be warmly welcomed to the UK if they decide to do so, because of their commitment to be part and parcel of the British way of life.
“It is, therefore, no surprise, that the migrants crossing the channel have upset many East African Asians – who came to this country as immigrants too, but came through the legal route, worked hard, integrated and contributed to this great country.”
The UK should avoid arms supplies to counties with human rights issues
But it is not just the human rights activists and campaigners who are urging the government to establish a more streamlined system of dealing with border crossings. The Labour party has also accused the government of lacking “compassion and competence” in its approach and attempting to “militarise” the response to a humanitarian crisis.
In the meantime, an analysis of figures for arms sales, released by the government in April, revealed that in 2019 the UK sold £1.3bn worth of weapons to 26 of the 48 countries that are classed as “not free” by Freedom House, the US government-funded pro-democracy institution. This was compared with just £310m in 2018. In 2018, the UK sold £173m worth of arms to states on the Foreign Office list of “human rights priority countries” – nations identified as having human rights issues countries from where most of these asylum seekers have fled. Speaking about how the UK can arrive at better ways of handling the situation, Nazek said,
“The best solution to prevent similar situations to the one in Calais and the Mediterranean is to address the root causes which force people to flee as people should choose to travel not be forced to do so. Those long-term solutions will have to include looking at the countries that the UK sells arms to and their records on human rights. There is not enough investment in peace.”
