Alison Thewliss: ‘Illegal Migration Bill Fails to Fix Cruel UK Immigration System’
The Illegal migration bill introduced by the Home Secretary has come under heavy criticism from campaigners who call it unworkable, and have dubbed it the ‘Refugee Ban Bill’. Alison, Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, believes that we can – and must – do better.
A placard held up at the Stand Up to Racism protest held in Glasgow on 20 March | Photo credit: Eloise Bishop
By Alison Thewliss | Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central
Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill will not work. It can’t ‘stop the boats’ and it utterly fails to fix the defective and cruel UK immigration system.
I watched with despair at the Conservative benches in the House of Commons lapping up the toxic rhetoric from the Home Secretary, as she laid out the latest magical solution to resolve the so-called ‘invasion’ of people crossing the Channel on rubber dinghies.
The Hostile Environment, with its ‘go home’ vans was meant to have dissuaded people from coming to the UK. The Nationality and Borders Act, passed only last year, was supposed to have a similar effect. It isn’t even fully in force, yet this next damaging piece of legislation will be the one to fix it. Third time’s the charm, so the Tories would have you believe.
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The reasons people flee conflict and persecution are much more compelling than the barriers being put up by this dangerous legislation. There are family ties, the English language, experience of having worked for UK forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the long legacy of empire, to mention a few. For others, the trauma they experienced forced them to run and keep running until they felt safe.
There is no system for applying for asylum from abroad. People literally must have their feet on UK soil before they can make an application. They can’t hop on a plane, as they won’t be allowed to board without the appropriate visa. Safe and legal routes are few and far between.
The exception to this, of course, has been Ukraine. You won’t find Ukrainians amongst the Iraqis, Iranians and Afghans in rubber dinghies, because for them, there is a functioning safe and legal route. No one would grudge Ukrainians this important route to safety, but having proven it works for this group of vulnerable people fleeing conflict, the UK Government really ought to establish routes for other groups who are equally at risk.
There is a lot of kindness and support to be found in communities like Govanhill, where the journeys and hardships people have faced are recognised. In many of the cases I have dealt with in my advice surgeries, there are long delays for decisions. This takes a heavy toll on people’s mental health and often leaves people dependent on charity, when all they want is to be able to get on with their life and contribute to society.
This broken, miserable system, is also costing a fortune. The UK Government is sending hundreds of millions of pounds to the French Government to patrol beaches, paying dearly for the deal to remove people to Rwanda, and lining the pockets of private companies who are providing sub-standard accommodation.
Investing more wisely in the boring work of actually processing cases would be a much better use of public funds. Allowing asylum seekers the right to work while waiting for a decision would also be better all round – for the people in the system, for the public purse, and for integration into our communities.
We can – and must – do better than the divisive language of the Home Secretary. The solidarity in neighbours standing up for one another, the anti-racism marches and demos in Glasgow all give me hope that there is another way, one which recognises that these are our neighbours and that refugees are welcome in Scotland.