Priti Patel's "Nationality & Borders Bill" proposed earlier this year is not only inhumane, but reeks of hypocrisy as well.
The #bill would allow indefinite #detention, #pushbacks at sea and #offshoreprocessing in prison-like facilities, with the government already having struck a deal to deport #refugees to #Rwanda to make their asylum claims.
Additionally, the bill would allow for differential treatment of refugees depending on how they entered the country. #asylumseekers arriving through anything other than #resettlement will receive a lesser form of protection, including temporary status, no access to financial support, and limited rights to family reunion.
It is evident that such treatment would severely weaken the existing protection mechanisms and render many individuals fleeing war and persecution completely unprotected.
Moreover, it represents a breach of the 1951 #RefugeeConvention which protects refugees from persecution based on the means of entering another country.
Often times, individuals fleeing their home countries due to war and persecution have no other option than to enter another country by ‘illegal’ means such as making a perilous journey across the English Channel in a small boat, as obtaining the necessary documentation to enter legally can be impossible.
Therefore, criminalising persons for seeking safety is not only beyond inhumane, but also in contradiction with the UKs legal obligations as a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Ironically, while she proposes vile plans to tackle immigration, Patel herself is the daughter of Gujarati Indian parents who arrived in the UK from Uganda shortly before Idi Amin’s regime which expelled Ugandan Asians.
It is evident that there is a deep-rooted hypocrisy in how she has disassociated herself from her entire identity and from recognising similarities within her own and the current refugee context in favour of political point-scoring.
While Patel’s political moves might help her earn the support of the UKs right-wing, it will come at the expense of human lives.
"Nationality & Borders Bill" must be stopped! ALL refugees deserve protection!