Yahoo News The treatment of migrants crossing the Channel is plain wrong and against British values
Home secretary Priti Patel tells us the UK government is committed to “shutting down” routes used by migrants crossing the Channel to the south coast and disassembling the criminal gangs “making fortunes” enabling the illegal crossings to take place.
And whose fault is it anyway? Well, the French of course – as far as the government is concerned. If the French stopped the migrants putting to sea on their side of the Channel, our brave Border Force officers would not have to be dragging them out of their deflating dinghy on English soil.
Co-operation on crime and terrorism in Europe for the last 30 years has been a major benefit of our membership of the EU – and long may it continue after Brexit. Through Europol, EuroJust and the European Arrest Warrant, Britain’s war against organised crime, including closing down the so-called Costa del Crime in Spain where British villains would sit in the sunshine sipping their sangrias after fleeing justice has seen many successes.
Prime minister Boris Johnson calls for a change in the Dublin rules in order to prevent would-be migrants putting ashore in the UK.
Does anyone truly believe this will stop desperate people crossing dangerous waters in search of sanctuary and safety? It will not. The government often speaks of its admiration for the Australian points system for refugees. The way we treat these sad souls arriving from war zones, refugee camps and the deserts of North Africa needs no rating – it is plain wrong.
Rabina Khan is a Liberal Democrat councillor for Shadwell in Tower Hamlets Council.
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