More than 100 refugee assistance organizations have written an open letter to the British Home Secretary Suella Braverman urging her to establish a “kind and effective system” for people seeking asylum in the UK after she said it was her “dream” to see a plane full of refugees fly off to Rwanda.
The letter referred to Braverman’s remarks at a fringe event, in which she stated that it was her “dream” and “obsession” to see a chartered flight of migrants departing for Rwanda and that the only way to enter the UK is a “safe and legal route.”
An excerpt of the letter says, “Home Secretary, when you talk of ‘safe and legal routes,’ you must be aware that it is impossible to ask that refugees come exclusively through such route when even Afghan interpreters who are eligible for one of our few existing schemes remain in hiding from the Taliban.”
The letter, which is addressed to Braverman, states that when you talk about “illegal migrants,” you should be aware that the top three countries from which risky journeys are undertaken are Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Syria.
The letter requested that the backlog in asylum cases be addressed, safe routes be established, international law and the UN convention on refugees be respected, and refugees be given a fair hearing regardless of how they arrived, noting that at least 97% of asylum requests submitted by Afghan, Syrian, and Eritrean nationals are granted.
This comes as the local media reported that a “white man” petrol bombed a migration center in England’s Kent, after which he killed himself.
