European Politicians Criticize Small Court Law Saying ‘You Can’t Punish a Refugee’

European politicians criticized Home Secretary Swella Braverman’s plan on Tuesday to block “little boats” from crossing the English Channel.

The law aims to primarily prevent the arrival of people arriving in the UK from ships seeking asylum in the country and will force the government to arrest them and then deport them to their home country or a safe third country.

Thijs Reuten, MEP for the Netherlands, said it risks a legal challenge and may not achieve its goals. “In order to break the smuggling business model, we need to provide safer and more legal ways,” he said. “The plan to punish people with a life suspension is meant to scare people. It seems to be a rhetorical boast of the Tory government at the expense of the weakest.”

Mr Reiten said that although the UK is outside the European Union, it is still bound by the provisions of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which says: “You cannot punish incoming refugees, whether they arrived illegally or illegally.”

“Suspending someone for life for how they arrived in my country could be seen as a punishment and also disproportionate,” he added.

Reiten said limiting safe and legal routes does not make the destination country less attractive. “You will find other ways. I say the same about the EU: building walls and fences at the borders does not solve anything. They will only drive more people into the hands of smugglers,” he said.

He noted that one of the main groups heading to the UK are Iranian refugees fleeing a repressive regime, and that punishing anyone in this situation is “certainly not in line with international obligations.”

Christine Engrand, far-right French MP for the Pas de Calais region, said: “There are still many people who see Britain as El Dorado and there are still ruthless smugglers.” “It doesn’t solve the problem.”

Ms Engrand, a member of the National Rally of the National Rally, said she hoped to develop a common border policy with the UK and was involved in parliamentary discussions with British MPs. “It would be much better if we worked together to solve this problem,” she said. “We need legal routes for migrants to get into the UK. I do not agree with this plan and the fact that the UK is trying to deny them refugee status does not help.”

Patrick Tilliers, mayor of Saint-Martin-le-Tatingham in the Pas-de-Calais region, said the proposals were wrong. “I don’t think anyone should be denied asylum,” he said. “And this proposal won’t change anything as long as people can enter England illegally.”

It was also asked whether the proposal violated the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the representative of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which administers the treaty, reacted cautiously to this proposal, saying only: “From the very beginning, the UK has played an active role in shaping the ECtHR system for the benefit of all in the United Kingdom. kingdom and throughout the continent.”