The British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has created a stir during her time in Washington by proclaiming that uncontrolled immigration is “an existential risk” for the West. Braverman, 43, the daughter of immigrants of Indian origin born in Kenya and Mauritius, has gone even further and has declared unequivocally that “multiculturalism has failed.”
The controversial Secretary of the Interior has been accused by Amnesty International of “cynicism and xenophobia” for ensuring that the UN Refugee Convention is outdated and for denying that those persecuted for homosexuality in their countries of origin have the right to benefit from the right of asylum.
“The world we live in is completely different from that of 1951,” declared Braverman during his time at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank, building bridges between the Conservative Party and the American hard right.
The promoter of the controversial Rwanda plan, to deport immigrants to the African country pending their asylum request, declared that the position of the United Kingdom (paralyzed at the time by the European Court of Human Rights) is “increasingly supported by other countries “.
Braverman referred to what happened on the Italian island of Lampedusa on September 12, with the arrival of 120 boats with 5,000 irregular immigrants from Tunisia… “In 48 hours, the number of ‘illegals’ exceeded that of the population local, on September 20 they reached 11,000 and the immigrants began to sleep on the street, steal food and confront the Police.
The conservative recalled how in the United States the number of illegal immigrants rose from two million in 2021 to 2.8 million in the last year: “We are not facing a cyclical problem or one triggered by a disaster. We are facing a structural challenge for developed countries in general and for the West in particular.
Overlooking the fiasco of British immigration policy, with more than 45,000 boat crossings in the English Channel and more than 170,000 applicants pending their request for asylum, Braverman recalled how 37% of the inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa and the 27% of those living in the Middle East and North Africa have their sights set on European countries, according to a Gallup poll.
“The possibility that some of them can reach Europe is a unique and profound challenge,” he warned. “The fact is that our countries are exceptionally attractive. 4% of respondents named the UK as their preferred destination.”
Braverman, representative of the hard wing of the Tories and former candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party, did not hesitate to use immigration as a cultural warhorse and to proclaim the fiasco of “multiculturalism” promoted by left-wing parties. “If people who settle in our countries do not start to think of themselves as British, American, French or German, then something is going very wrong… And that is what is happening on the streets of the cities from all over Europe, from Malmö to Paris, from Brussels to Leicester”.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) responded to Suella Braverman with an unusual statement in which it stressed that the 1951 Convention “is as relevant today as when it was adopted.” “It is crucial that people who suffer the risk of persecution due to their sexual orientation or identity can seek safety and protection,” stressed the UNHCR, while reminding the United Kingdom of the principle of “shared responsibility” of the countries that sign the convention. .