The British government’s latest ‘stop the boats’ scheme is merely “cynical politics”, according to Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who warned that the legislation will ultimately be rendered meaningless by European judges in Strasbourg.
Declaring “enough is enough” in terms of the illegal boat migrant crisis in the English Channel, Home Secretary Suella Braverman will introduce the ‘Illegal Migration Bill’ before the House of Commons on Tuesday. The legislation would seek to prevent people from claiming asylum if they entered the country illegally and would bar them from ever re-entering the country.
The latest scheme would also require that the government to detain and deport illegal migrants to “their home country or a safe third country”, such as the long-planned — yet never realised — proposal to send boat migrants to the East African nation of Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed.
The Rwanda plan, introduced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year, was thrown into limbo after judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France controversially intervened and blocked the first deportation flight to the country last July. Nearly one year after its announcement, the plan has also yet to be fully approved by the British judiciary, which has a long history of siding with illegal migrants, foreign criminals, and even terrorists in deportation battles.
The impediment of the courts in Strasbourg and in Britain will also likely quash any potential gains from the new legislation, Brexit leader Nigel Farage said on Tuesday.
“These new promises by the Government to stop the boats are just cynical politics. When UK legislation is inevitably overruled by foreign judges in Strasbourg, Tories will fight the next election on leaving ECHR,” Mr Farage wrote on social media, adding: “Meanwhile another 200,000 migrants will have arrived in Britain.”
The Brexiteer went on to comment: “Has anyone asked our judges whether they agree with the so-called ‘Strasbourg Brake’? Not a chance — they will uphold our international treaty commitments.”
Mr Farage has long advocated for the UK to leave the European Court of Human Rights in order to fully realise the return of sovereignty promised by Brexit. However, successive post-Brexit Conservative (Tory) governments have been unable, or more likely, unwilling to remove the country from its jurisdiction.
The UK’s membership to the court was unaffected by it leaving the EU officially in 2020 as the court is technically a separate body from the bloc, however, many have branded this a meaningless distinction given that the court shares the same ‘European Quarter’ campus in Strasbourg, France as the EU, as well as having the same flag, and anthem as the bloc.
Home Secretary Braverman, whom Nigel Farage supported in last summer’s leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson, has also previously supported leaving the ECHR, yet her new legislation would do no such thing.
Arguing in favour of her plan, Braverman said on Tuesday: “This Bill will mean that if you come here illegally you will not be able to stay. You will be detained and removed to your home country if safe or a safe third country like Rwanda.
“We are committed to helping those in need like the hundreds of thousands of people we have supported from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong in recent years.
“But it is not fair that people who travel through a string of safe countries and then come to the UK illegally can jump the queue and game our system. This Bill will bring an end to that. Enough is enough. We must stop the boats.”
Yet Braverman herself has admitted that the legislation is pushing “the boundaries of international law”, meaning that the government is aware that the bill will likely face steep opposition at the European level.
Commenting on his YouTube channel, Mr Farage said that while the language of the new legislation is tougher than previous attempts, it will fail because of Britain’s continued commitment to the ECHR.
“[The] only way we solve this is we complete Brexit,” he said. “Brexit was about getting our sovereignty back and if a government in a piece of legislation already admit it might not work because of a foreign court, that means we’re not a sovereign country. We have to leave ECHR or we’ll never, ever solve this.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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