- Suella Braverman criticized for asylum stance
- UNHCR rejects her proposals
- Controversy within Conservative Party
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has faced criticism for stating that the international asylum system is no longer functional.
In an earlier speech, Mrs. Braverman stated that fear of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender should not be sufficient to qualify for refugee status.
However, the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) rejected her call to “tighten” the standards.
It stated that the 1951 Refugee Convention “remains an instrument for saving lives.”
The convention provides an agreed-upon definition of a refugee and minimum standards for their treatment and serves as the foundation for the UNHCR’s work.
Following Mrs. Braverman’s speech, the UNHCR issued the following statement: “The need is not for reform or a more restrictive interpretation, but for a stronger and more consistent application of the convention and its underlying responsibility-sharing principle.”
It is crucial that individuals who are at risk of persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender identity are able to seek safety and protection, according to the agency.
It argued that an “appropriate response” to the rising number of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom and the backlog of claims would be to expedite decision-making processes.
Charities also condemned the home secretary’s remarks, with ActionAid UK characterizing them as “a direct assault on gender equality and human rights.
Following World War II, the Refugee Convention was drafted with the central principle that refugees should not be returned to countries where they face hazards to their life or freedom.
However, in a Tuesday address to a US think tank, Mrs. Braverman stated that “we now live in a completely different time” than when the convention was signed.
She told an audience at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. that evolving case law had shifted away from assisting those fleeing persecution “in favour of something more akin to a definition of ‘discrimination’.”
The home secretary acknowledged that “in vast swaths of the world, it is extremely difficult to be gay or female.”
“Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary,” she said.
“However, we will not be able to maintain an asylum system if being homosexual or female and fearing discrimination in one’s home country is sufficient to qualify for protection.”
There are 64 nations with laws that criminalize homosexuality, with nearly half of those nations located in Africa.
Given that the majority of the world has signed the extant convention, it is unlikely that Ms. Braverman will be able to implement reforms.
However, her remarks underscore the government’s resolve to take a tough stance on immigration as it seeks to prevent people from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of human rights charity Amnesty International UK, said: “The Refugee Convention is a cornerstone of the international legal system and we need to call out this assault on the convention for what it is: a display of cynicism and xenophobia.
Mrs. Braverman, according to Labour, was “grandstanding” and using lesbians and women as “scapegoats.”
There has also been some pushback from Mrs. Braverman’s own party.
Andrew Boff, a long-serving Conservative member of the London Assembly and patron of the LGBT+ Conservatives, accused her of using “dog whistles” and “victim blaming” to divert attention away from “the appalling backlog of asylum claims.
One Tory MP, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that the speech was “terrible” and that unless the prime minister “gets rid” of Mrs. Braverman, it could “reflect poorly on him.”
Downing Street announced that it had approved the home secretary’s speech.
Tim Loughton, a Conservative member of the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, stated that Mrs. Braverman “had a point.”
“The United Kingdom cannot be the refugee camp for the entire world, which is why we must examine how these international agreements will operate in the 2020s,” he said.
Mrs. Braverman also attacked “a misguided multiculturalism dogma” in her speech.
“Multiculturalism does not require immigrants to assimilate,” she said, adding, “It has failed because it permitted immigrants to live parallel lives in our society.”
“And, in extreme cases, they could pursue lives aimed at undermining the stability and threatening the security of society.”
The home secretary stated that her parents, who immigrated to the United Kingdom from Mauritius and Kenya, “both signed up to British values wholeheartedly.”
We’ll see Mrs. Braverman’s visit to Washington and her speech through the lens of her presidential ambitions.
She ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative leadership last summer and is likely to run again if Rishi Sunak loses the upcoming election.
