Genuine asylum seekers could be criminalised under Government plans – Labour MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy said those who are fleeing war could have their rights abolished under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.
Genuine asylum seekers could be criminalised as a result of the Government’s proposals to tackle people-smuggling gangs, a Labour MP has said, as she called for a holistic approach.
People who are fleeing war or who are trafficked to the UK could have their rights abolished under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, Bell Ribeiro-Addy told the Commons.
During the second reading of the Bill, she said: “The Bill clearly aims to prioritise border security, but the malign Greek chorus which chant ‘stop the boats’ to every problem in our society is wrong.
“With these measures, as with others, the boats will not be stopped unless we look at the issue holistically.
“Have we stopped organised crime and drugs and people trafficking, fraud, firearms and so on? Of course not, because some of these are high-tech operations. Yet all these overseas-based criminals need is dinghies.
“It can’t be a credible plan to smash the gangs unless we first deal with the demand for what they supply.
“Many of us have long argued that the way to undercut and ultimately eliminate the gangs would be to re-establish safe and legal routes for asylum seekers, to establish processing centres in northern France, to turn away failed applications, and to allow those entitled to be here safe travel.”
Intervening, Mother of the House Diane Abbott said: “Doesn’t she agree with me that more people should listen to those of us that say: if you don’t want people drowning in the Channel, the answer is to enable the processing of these asylum claims to be done in northern France? Which is something the French had offered to us.”
In response, Ms Ribeiro-Addy said the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington is “always right”.
She added: “It is not impossible, in fact it has been done before. Instead, this Bill could actually end up criminalising those same people because of their means of travelling here, which would ultimately be wrong.
“And it’s widely understood that many of these people, precisely because they are the victims of persecution, cannot apply for visas in the normal fashion, and many more cannot afford the cost of long-haul flights either.
“Genuine and valid asylum seekers could be criminalised. And we should remember these are people fleeing war and devastation, and some of those people are being trafficked here.
“Many are being brought here as slaves, either for domestic service or menial unpaid work, or are being trafficked into sex slavery. This Bill could abolish their rights and their protections under the Modern Slavery Act.”
Ms Ribeiro-Addy also criticised immigration detention, which she said is “costly and cruel” and will increase as a result of the Bill.
“We need a limit on immigration detention, this would be both humane and efficient,” she added.
Independent MP for Coventry South Zarah Sultana said the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill “entrenches injustice instead of ending it”.
Ms Sultana is one of a number of Labour MPs who lost the whip for voting to scrap the two child benefit cap.
Speaking from the Labour benches, she said: “This Bill could have ended the hostile environment, instead it doubles down on the same failed policies, criminalising refugees, denying protection to survivors, and failing to provide safe routes.
“As an MP representing Coventry, a proud city of sanctuary enriched by generations of immigration, we demand better. We need a system that upholds human rights and international law and is built on fairness, compassion and humanity, not more failed punitive policies.
“We need safe, legal routes for asylum seekers, family reunification and protections for trafficking survivors. This Bill, however, entrenches injustice instead of ending it.”
Later in the debate, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby Ian Byrne said: “I worry that by focusing too extensively on deterrents and enforcement, the Government will miss a vital opportunity to tackle the deep-rooted, systemic issues that are truly at the heart of inequality in our country.
“Because if we solve the economic issues, we begin to heal as a nation and the toxicity around this debate loses its power.”
Labour MP Nadia Whittome also raised concerns the Bill would lead to the “unintended consequence” of criminalising those seeking asylum.
The Nottingham East MP added: “We need to combat the dehumanising false narrative that desperate people fleeing war and persecution are criminals, and we must not treat them as such.
“Instead, we should be properly reforming our broken asylum system. An improved system should include safe and legal routes, a fair and efficient decision-making process, lifting work restrictions, closing all large sites, and increasing asylum support rates.
“It is appalling that 138 people, 138 human beings, attempting to cross the Channel since summer 2019 have died. I have no doubt that my party is united in wanting to save lives, but I am concerned that this Bill, no matter how well-intentioned its aims might be, will not succeed.”
