Home Secretary Suella Braverman says new small boats legislation ‘not breaking’ international law
The home secretary has told Sky News the government’s new plan to stop small boat migrants arriving in the UK is “not breaking the law”.
Suella Braverman said she is “very confident” the measures announced on Tuesday “are in compliance with our international law obligations”.
The government revealed its new plan to stop migrants entering the UK on small boats, after more than 45,000 crossed the Channel last year.
Home secretary defends new law after UN criticism – latest politics updates
Under the plans, arrivals will be detained within the first 28 days without bail or judicial review and the majority would be unable to make claims to stop deportation until they have been returned to the country they came from or a “safe third country such as Rwanda”.
They will also be banned from claiming UK settlement, citizenship or re-entering the UK if they are removed.
The bill has come under severe criticism from opposition MPs and refugee charities, with Amnesty International and the UN Refugee Agency saying the plans would “amount to an asylum ban”.
Labour described the bill as a “con” that was no more likely to be successful than prior Tory efforts to tackle small boat migration across the Channel.
Ms Braverman admitted on Tuesday the government does not know if the plans are entirely within the conventions of international law.
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‘Government will act now to stop boats’
But she told Sky News’ Kay Burley at Breakfast on Wednesday: “We’re not breaking the law and no government representative has said we’re breaking the law.
“In fact, we’ve made it very clear that we believe we are in compliance with all of our international obligations, for example, the Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights, other conventions to which we are subject.
“But what’s important is that we do need to take compassionate but necessary and fair measures.
“Now, because there are people who are dying to try and get here. They are breaking our laws. They are abusing the generosity of the British people.”
Ms Braverman’s insistence comes despite a statement by her on the first page of the published bill, which says: “I am unable to make a statement that, in my view, the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill are compatible with the Convention rights, but the government nevertheless wishes the House to proceed with the bill.”
And in a letter to Conservative MPs and peers urging them to back the bill, Ms Braverman insisted it “does not mean the provisions in the bill are incompatible” with the Human Rights Act.
“Only that there is a more 50% chance that they may not be,” the letter said.
“We are testing the limits but remain confident that this bill is compatible with international law.”
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What is new small boats bill?
Labour: ‘Govt not tackling problem’
The home secretary told Sky News the new plan is the only way to “break the model of the people smuggling gangs” who charge thousands of pounds to transport people across the Channel in small and often overpacked boats.
But Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the new bill does not tackle the cause of the problem, as she accused the government of failing to tackle the smuggling gangs.
She said there need to be return agreements with other European countries from which the gangs operate.
“They’re not actually tackling the problem,” she told Sky News.
“We think you should get return agreements in place with Europe as part of a wider agreement, particularly with France and Belgium.
“ I think if you did that then you wouldn’t need many of the things that the government has talked because that actually would be at the heart of it.”
Migrants are brought into Dover on 6 March
No dates for first removals and more detention centres
Ms Braverman said people will be able to claim asylum in the UK but “they should choose to come here through safe and legal routes” so they are not breaking the law.
“We have a very generous regime of supporting people coming here lawfully for humanitarian protection,” Ms Braverman added.
“What we can’t go on accepting is people breaking our laws.”
Under the new plan, the government has said new detention centres will be opened, including on military bases, however, Ms Braverman said she could not provide dates of when and where they will open as there are “logistical challenges” – but it will be “very soon”.
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Small boats crackdown ‘necessary and fair’
She also said she could not give a date for when the first failed asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda and said the government is doubling the number of asylum caseworkers by more than 2,000 to get through the large backlog of cases.
Ms Braverman said it is costing £6 million a day to house asylum claimants in hotels but could not provide details of how much the new plans will save the taxpayer.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions later on Wednesday, where he is certain to challenge him on the new plans.
An Afghan man who worked for the British military has told Sky News he feels betrayed and has “completely lost (his) mind” after his identity was part of a massive data breach.
He told The World with Yalda Hakim about the moment he discovered he was among thousands of Afghans whose personal details were revealed, putting him at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.
The man, who spoke anonymously to Sky News from Afghanistan, says he worked with British forces for more than 10 years.
But now, he regrets working alongside those troops, who were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001.
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Afghans being relocated after data breach
“I have done everything for the British forces … I regret that – why (did) I put my family in danger because of that? Is this is justice?
“We work for them, for [the] British, we help them. So now we are left behind, right now. And from today, I don’t know about my future.”
He described receiving an email warning him that his details had been revealed.
He said: “When I saw this one story… I completely lost my mind. I just thought… about my future… my family’s.
“I’ve got two kids. All my family are… in danger. Right now… I’m just completely lost.”
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The mistake by the Ministry of Defence in early 2022 ranks among the worst security breaches in modern British history because of the cost and risk posed to the lives of thousands of Afghans.
On Tuesday, a court order – preventing the media reporting details of a secret relocation programme – was lifted.
Read more from Sky News:
Minister defends handling of breach
The struggle for equality in Afghanistan
Afghan women throw babies to troops
Reuters file pic
Defence Secretary John Healey said about 6,900 Afghans and their family members have been relocated or were on their way to the UK under the previously secret scheme.
He said no one else from Afghanistan would be offered asylum, after a government review found little evidence of intent from the Taliban to seek retribution.
But the anonymous Afghan man who spoke to Sky News disputed this. He claimed the Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, were actively seeking people who worked with British forces.
“My family is finished,” he said. “I request… kindly request from the British government… the King… please evacuate us.
“Maybe tomorrow we will not be anymore. Please, please help us.”
World
Ross Edgley: The British ‘Thor’ swimming 1,000 miles around Iceland – and what happened when he met killer whales
Towering waves, freezing temperatures and even some inquisitive killer whales. Iceland is doing its best to defeat Ross Edgley.Â
Inspired by “Thor”, the British extreme athlete is in the middle of a challenge worthy of the Norse god – spending four months swimming 1,000 miles around the whole of Iceland in the name of science.
And while it comes with its challenges – a video of parts of his tongue falling off because of the salty sea water went viral – there have also been moments of beauty in the rugged Viking landscape.
“We’re on the northern coast right now,” Ross tells Sky News as he prepares to get back in the water.
“There’s nothing to stop the wind coming from the Arctic, and it’s just smashing into the north of Iceland. We’re miles out, just like a bobbing cork getting absolutely battered.”
Ross is making his way around Iceland clockwise after setting off from Reykjavik
Ross, from Cheshire, is no stranger to endurance events like this. In 2018, he swam nearly 1,800 miles around the coast of Great Britain and earned a Guinness World Record for swimming 317 miles along the Yukon River in Canada.
But the punishing cold as 39-year-old Ross swims 30km (18 miles) a day around Iceland is something else.
“The body just takes a consistent battering,” he says, characteristically cheery and enthusiastic despite everything.
“You just do your best to keep it in some sort of shape, controlling the inevitable breakdown of your body, hoping that you get back into Reykjavik.”
Some of the injuries Ross has picked up so far, and the salt water hinders healing
He’s eating between 10,000 and 15,000 calories a day – with pasta and his new favourite Icelandic liquorice as menu staples – just to keep going.
“You’re basically running through all of that food – I’m constantly saying it’s basically just an eating competition with a bit of swimming thrown in,” he chuckles. “But that’s genuinely what it is.”
His average day – storms permitting – sees Ross getting up and swimming for six hours, resting for six hours, and then getting back in the water to swim another six hours.
“You just do that on repeat. It’s really simple in theory, but brutal in reality.”
Ross is covering about 18 miles (30km) a day
To get ready for the cool Icelandic waters, Ross took inspiration from animals that have made it their home for thousands of years: whales and seals.
“I ended up putting on about 10-15 kilos of just pure fat. A bit of muscle as well but a lot of fat.
“When you look at what sort of animals survive in Iceland, there’s that idea of sea blubber. You want insulation, you want body fat.”
Perhaps unlike a seal however, Ross takes great care to defend the reputation of the killer whales that hunt in Icelandic seas.
“We’ve seen a lot, pods of them have come by and checked me out, wondering what the strange Englishman was doing in Icelandic waters, and then we went our separate ways.
“I want to combat some of the bad PR that orcas might have because there’s never been a verified case of an orca attacking a human in the wild. It just doesn’t exist.
“They’re amazing animals that deserve our respect and shouldn’t be feared.”
Ross back on board his support boat after swimming
There’s also a big scientific focus for Ross’s challenge as well.
“If we achieve this, it will achieve so much in terms of sports science – the first person to swim around Iceland. But that wasn’t a big enough reason to do it.”
Ross spoke to scientists who said that if he was “crazy enough” to want to do the swim, he would be able to collect daily samples of environmental DNA in the water, as well as levels of microplastics.
“By the end we’re just going to have this map of biodiversity around the whole coast of Iceland in a level of detail we’ve never really seen before. It’s going to be so comprehensive.
“So I think as the legacy of this swim, records and everything will be nice, but I actually think the science and the research that we contribute and give back will be unbelievable and actually make the chafing and losing parts of my tongue worth it.”
The swim is being paid for by a mix of sponsorships and self-funding.
Ross Edgley is swimming 1,000 miles around Iceland. Pic: James Appleton/BMW
Ross says he was inspired to take on the challenge in part by actor Chris Hemsworth and his role as the Norse god Thor, joking that the feat would be the closest thing to swimming around Asgard, the realm of the deities from ancient Scandinavia.
As he makes his way around the island, he gets to meet a local community where stories of Nordic gods are still an important part of life.
“It’s amazing, we’re just hearing these stories of Nordic folklore, sagas written about every single fjord we go around. It’s unbelievable.”
Ross and his team rest on land between swims
Fresh off one marathon swimming session, Ross and his team jumped into action to help the local community rescue 30 stranded whales.
“The team were absolutely exhausted… but having rescued the whales was the most rewarding moment as well.”
A moment of downtime on the boat. Pic: Ross Edgley/YouTube
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Ross set off on his swimming quest on 17 May, and it’s likely going to be a couple more months before he arrives back in Reykjavik.
He suggested that September is the goal, but added: “But you make plans and Iceland laughs at them.”
Picture credits: Ross Edgley/YouTube
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