Suella Braverman, pictured on a visit to the United States, says the current refugee system is «absurd and unsustainable»; Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA
The Home Secretary will warn that up to 780 million people will be eligible to claim asylum without radical reform of global refugee rules.
On a visit to the United States on Tuesday, Suella Braverman will warn that the threshold for asylum claims under the UN Refugee Convention has been lowered in the courts.
She will say that «simply being gay, a woman or fearing discrimination» is now effectively enough to qualify for protection: refugee rights extended to 780 million people.
Ms Braverman will suggest that while the convention was an «incredible achievement» when it was signed after the Second World War, it may now need reform as it has created «huge incentives for illegal migration». She added that the current situation is “absurd and unsustainable.”
Her comments, which will be shared with the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank in Washington, come as the government grapples with the small boat crisis. and US authorities are grappling with more than two million migrants crossing their southern border.
Her remarks will put her on a collision course with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which has backed a lawsuit against government plans to deport migrants from La -Mansha to Rwanda. The flights remain suspended until the Supreme Court decides this fall whether they are legal.
Ms Braverman has previously stated her desire to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights due to the way «politicized» and «interventionist» judges are trampling on the «territory of national sovereignty». However, so far she has not publicly or directly opposed the Refugee Convention.
She is expected to say: “Seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing.
“Seeking refuge in the first safe country you come to or finding your preferred destination is not the same thing.
“The extent to which the global asylum system allows these categories to be combined creates enormous incentives for illegal migration. This legal framework is based on the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.»
Ms. Braverman with Karen Pearce, British Ambassador in the USA, during her visit to Washington. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA
The Convention, approved at a special UN conference in July 1951, was intended to help resettle people fleeing persecution after World War II and the Holocaust. It initially focused on Europe but has since expanded to 146 countries.
But Ms Braverman will argue that more than 70 years later, “we are living in a completely different time.”
She will say: “When the Refugee Convention was signed, it provided protection to approximately two million people in Europe.
“According to analysis by Nick Timothy and Carl Williams, conducted by the Center for Policy Research, at least 780 million people are now granted the conditional right to move to another country.
“ Policymakers and opinion leaders should therefore ask whether the Convention refugee status and how it is interpreted by our courts, our modern era or it needs reform.»
This figure is an estimate of any person who might face a «well-founded fear of persecution» for reasons such as race, religion and nationality and leave their home country, plus 89 million forcibly displaced and 40 million in modern slavery.
Ms Braverman will say the refugee definition has changed from a “well-founded fear of persecution” to a “credible” or “plausible” fear of “something more akin to the definition of discrimination.”
She adds: “The practical consequence of this has been to increase the number of those who can claim asylum and lower the threshold for doing so.
“Let me be clear: there are vast areas of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay or female.
“Where people are persecuted, we are right to offer refuge. But we cannot support an asylum system if, essentially, being gay or a woman and fearing discrimination in your country of origin is enough to qualify for protection.”
Number of refugees: 1,406 < p>She will say that Article 31 of the Refugee Convention should have only applied to migrants who came “directly” into the country.
The UK and US interpreted this to mean that people should seek asylum in the first safe country they reach.
“But NGOs and others, including the UN Refugee Agency, dispute this. The status quo, in which people can travel through multiple safe countries and even live in them for years, while choosing their preferred destination to apply for asylum, is absurd and unsustainable,” she will say.
“ No one entering the UK by boat from France is fleeing imminent danger. None of them have “compelling reasons” for entering illegally. The vast majority passed through a few safe countries.
“In this sense, there is an argument that they should no longer be treated as refugees when considering the legitimacy of their movement.”
“A broken asylum system”
This statement is central to the government's Illegal Migration Act. , which gives ministers powers to detain migrants arriving in the UK illegally and deport them to a safe third country such as Rwanda or their home country.
Her speech is part of a three-day visit to meet her US colleagues to discuss control strategies with illegal migration and organized immigration crime.
Responding before the speech, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the government had made it harder to fight the migration crisis with other countries by undermining international agreements.
She said: “Most people in Britain want to see strong border security and a properly managed asylum and resettlement system so that the UK does its part to help vulnerable refugees who have fled persecution and conflict — like the Afghan interpreters who have helped our Armed Forces.
“Under the Tories we have the worst of all worlds — a broken asylum system that is neither sound nor fair.”
Meanwhile, around 40 asylum seekers protested against conditions at RAF Wethersfield in Essex, a converted migrant camp where they are being held.
They complained about the quality of food, having to sleep three to a room, lack of dental care and the isolation of the base.
More than 100 migrants were sent to the camp after arriving in the UK on small boats.
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