Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s migration speech in Washington on Tuesday – where she spoke about how laws have morphed from helping those fleeing persecution to those fearing bias elicited criticism from the Labour Party.
Braverman called for a reform of the international asylum system during her speech, adding that the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention is no longer “fit for our modern age” while addressing a US think-tank in Washington DC.
The 1951 Convention – which provides the “internationally recognised” definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection and rights that a refugee is entitled to receive – asserts that a refugee “should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.”
“As case law has developed, what we have seen in practice is an interpretive shift away from ‘persecution’ in favour of something more akin to a definition of ‘discrimination’,” Braverman told the audience.
“Braverman’s speech today was a desperate attempt to distract from her total failure to tackle Tories asylum chaos,” posted on X shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (Labour).
“Failure to go after criminal gangs, £8m a day hotels, record asylum backlog & 70% drop in returns are the responsibility of this Tory Govt – not international agreements or LGBT refugees who are just 2% of UK asylum cases,” she added.
Braverman also singled out the LGBT+ community in her speech, saying that “there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay or to be a woman. Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary.”
“But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if, in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection,” she said.
Cooper accused Braverman of “targeting & scapegoating LGBT people”.
According to Human Rights Watch, at least 67 countries have national laws criminalising same-sex relations between consenting adults.
Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the convention does not need reform but, instead, needs “international political will and commitment to abide by the obligations for refugees under the international legal framework,” BBC reported.
Braverman’s speech comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing, where the UK government will determine whether its plan for tackling small boat crossings across the channel is legal.
(Sofia Stuart Leeson | Euractiv.com)
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