[ad_1]
Mr Speaker, before I begin, I know that the whole House will join me in expressing our condolences to the families of those who lost their children so tragically in Solihull.
With permission, I would like to make a statement on illegal immigration.
I hope the whole house will agree… there is a complex moral dimension to illegal immigration.
Balancing our duty to help those in dire need… with the responsibility to truly control our borders… understandably stirs strong emotions. And so… it is my view… that the basis for any solution should not be just ‘what works’… but what is right.
The simplest moral formulation for this issue… I believe that Members of all parties in this House believe… is fairness…
Mr Speaker… It is unfair that people are coming here illegally.
It is unfair on those who have a genuine case for asylum…
…when our ability to help is taken over by people coming to and from countries that are perfectly safe.
It is unfair to those who come here legally…
…while others get here by cheating the system.
And above all, it is unfair on the British people who play by the rules…
…while others come here illegally and profit by breaking those rules.
So people are right to be angry… Mr. Speaker… because they see what I see… which means this is not fair…
The desire to break the necks of criminal gangs that traffic in human suffering and exploit our system and laws is not cruel or unkind…
Enough is enough now.
The global asylum framework as currently constructed is obsolete.
100 million people are displaced worldwide today.
Hostile states are using migration as a weapon at Europe’s borders.
And as the world becomes more unstable – and the effects of climate change make more places desolate – the number of displaced will only increase.
We have a proud history of providing sanctuary to those most in need.
Britain helped draft the 1951 Refugee Convention to protect those fleeing persecution.
The Rt Hon Member for Maidenhead passed the world’s first modern slavery legislation in 2015.
And in the last year we have opened our hearts and homes to people from Hong Kong Afghanistan and Ukraine
Thousands of families will set extra places around the Christmas table this year.
No one can doubt our generosity.
But today many of the beneficiaries of that generosity are not people directly fleeing war zones or at risk of persecution but people crossing the Channel in small boats.
Many originate from fundamentally safe countries.
All travel to safe countries.
Their journeys are not ad hoc… but coordinated by ruthless, organized criminals.
And every journey endangers the lives of women, children – and let’s be honest, mostly men, at sea.
Mr. Speaker… This is not what previous generations intended when they drafted our humanitarian laws.
Nor is it intended by the numerous international treaties to which the UK is a signatory.
And unless we act now and decisively, it will only get worse.
In just seven weeks since I became Prime Minister, we have signed the largest ever small boat deal with France…
… patrol their beaches with significantly more boots on the ground.
For the first time, UK and French officials are linked in related operations in Dover and northern France.
We have re-established the Calais Group of Northern European nations – to disrupt traffickers on the migration route.
And last week the group set out a long-term ambition for a UK-EU comprehensive agreement on migration.
Of course, this is not a panacea, and we need to go much further.
Over the past month the Home Secretary and I have studied every aspect of this issue in detail, and we can now set out five new steps today.
First, our channel policing is too fragmented, with different people, doing different things, pulling in different directions.
We will therefore establish a new, permanent, unified Small Boats Operational Command.
This will bring together our military, our civilian capabilities and the National Crime Agency.
It will coordinate our intelligence, deterrence, processing and execution.
And use all available technology, including drones, for spying and surveillance to pick up and identify people and then prosecute more gang-led boat pilots.
We are adding over 700 new staff and also doubling the funding given to the NCA to tackle organized immigration crime in Europe.
Second, these additional resources will free up immigration officers to go back to enforcement which, in turn, will allow us to increase illegal work raids by 50%.
And it’s patently absurd that illegal immigrants today can get bank accounts that help them live and work here. So we will resume data sharing to prevent this.
Thirdly, it is unfair and appalling that we spend £5.5 million a day using hotels to house asylum seekers.
We must put an end to this.
Therefore, we will soon be bringing forward a range of alternative sites such as disused holiday parks, alumni halls and additional military sites.
We have already identified locations that can accommodate 10,000 people and are in active discussions to secure these and many more.
Our aim is to add thousands of places through this type of accommodation in the coming months – at half the cost of hotels.
At the same time, as we consulted in the summer …
…The cheapest and fairest way to tackle this problem is for all local authorities to take their fair share of asylum seekers into the private rented sector.
And we will work to achieve this as quickly as possible.
Fourth, Mr. Speaker, we need to process claims in days or weeks, not months or years.
So we will double the number of asylum case workers.
And we are radically re-engineering the end-to-end process…
…with shorter guidance, fewer interviews, less paperwork and the introduction of specialist case workers by nationality.
We will also eliminate the gold standard in our modern slavery system, reducing the cooling-off period from 45 to 30 days – the legal minimum set out in the ECAT Treaty.
As a result of all these changes, we will triple the productivity of our caseworkers…
…and we expect to eliminate the backlog of early asylum decisions by the end of next year.
Fifthly, fifth Mr. Speaker and most significantly,
A third of all people arriving in small boats this year – about 13,000 – are Albanians.
And yet Albania is a safe, prosperous European country.
It is considered safe for return by Germany, France, Italy, Sweden.
It is an EU accession country, a NATO ally and a member of the same anti-trafficking treaty as the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister of Albania himself has said that there is no reason why we cannot immediately return Albanian asylum seekers.
Last year Germany, France, Sweden rejected almost 100% of Albanian asylum claims.
Yet our rejection rate is only 45%.
It should not continue. So today I can announce a new agreement with Albania – and a new approach.
Firstly, we will embed Border Force officers at Tirana Airport for the first time…
…to help disrupt organized crime and stop people coming here illegally.
Second, we will issue new guidance to our case workers and make it clear that Albania is a safe country.
Third, one of the reasons we struggle to remove people is because they unfairly exploit our modern slavery system.
So we will significantly raise the threshold that someone must meet to be considered a modern slave.
For the first time, we will actually require caseworkers to have objective evidence of modern slavery rather than mere suspicion.
Fourth, we have sought and received formal assurances from Albania confirming that they will protect genuine victims and those at risk of re-trafficking…
…allowing us to detain and return people to Albania in good faith and in line with ECAT.
As a result of these changes, most of the Albanians’ claims could be declared “manifestly unfounded”.
And those individuals can be returned quickly.
Finally, we will change how we process Albanian illegal immigrants with a new dedicated unit staffed by 400 new specialists that will expedite cases within weeks.
In the coming months, thousands of Albanians will be repatriated.
And we will continue with weekly flights until all the Albanians in our backlog are removed.
And in addition to all these new measures, Mr Speaker let the House be in no doubt that when the legal proceedings on our Migration and Economic Development Partnership are completed…
…we will resume the first flights to Rwanda….
…so those here illegally who cannot return to their homeland, can build a new life there.
But Mr. Speaker, even with the great progress we will make in the changes I have announced today… a fundamental question still remains…
How can we solve this problem… once and for all?
It is not just our asylum system that needs fundamental reform.
Our laws also need reform.
We must be able to control our borders to ensure that only those who come here come through safe and legal routes.
Although well intentioned, our legal framework is being manipulated by people who exploit our courts to frustrate their resolution for months or years.
Mr. Speaker, I said enough is enough… and I mean it.
And that means I’m willing to do what I have to do.
So early next year we will introduce new legislation to make it clear in no uncertain terms that if you enter the UK illegally you cannot stay here.
Instead, you will be detained and quickly returned to your home country or a safe country where your claim for asylum will be considered.
And you will no longer be able to frustrate efforts to remove delayed or bogus claims or appeals.
And once removed you should have no right of re-entry, settlement or citizenship.
And furthermore, if our reforms on Albania are challenged in court…
…We will also put them on a statutory footing to ensure that the UK’s treatment of Albanian arrivals is no different to that of Germany or France.
The only way to come to the UK for asylum is through safe and legal channels.
And as we get a grip on illegal immigration, we’ll create more of them.
We will work with UNHCR to identify those most in need so that the UK remains a safe haven for the most vulnerable.
And we will introduce annual quotas on numbers set by Parliament…
In consultation with local authorities to determine our capacity…
…and improvable in the face of humanitarian crises.
Mr. Speaker, this is the right way to tackle this global challenge.
Dealing with this problem will not be quick. It won’t be easy.
But it is the right thing to do.
Because we cannot survive with a system that was designed for a different era.
We have to stop the boat.
And this government will do what needs to be done.
Mr. Speaker we – will be tough but fair.
And where we lead, others will follow.
And I appreciate this statement in the House.
[ad_2]
Source link
