UK home secretary complains of an ‘invasion’ of asylum seekers

By Andrew MacAskill

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – British Home Secretary Suella
Braverman said the country faces an “invasion” from people
travelling in small boats crossing the English Channel as she
she fought back against mounting pressure over her repeated
security breaches.

Braverman was reappointed interior minister by Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak last week, six days after she resigned from
the same role for sending a government document from her
personal email to an employee of a member of parliament in
breach of the rules.

Speaking to parliament over allegedly failing to listen
legal advice on the prolonged detention of migrants at an asylum
processing centre in southerm England, Braverman said the
current system is “broken” and “out of control”.

“Let’s stop pretending they are all refugees in distress,
the whole country knows that is not true,” she said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who became Britain’s third prime
minister in two months last week, has seen his early days in
office overshadowed by the row about her reappointment.

Opposition parties and even some members of parliament in
the governing Conservative Party have questioned her suitability
for the role.

On Monday, Braverman acknowleged she had sent official
government documents to her personal email address six times,
raising fresh concerns about breaches of ministerial rules while
in charge of the nation’s security.

Braverman defended her decision to keep thousands of people
at a migrant centre in Kent after some of her colleagues accused
her of deliberately ignoring legal advice to transfer people
from the site to hotels.

Conditions at the site at Manston in Kent were last week
described by Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and
Immigration David Neal as “pretty wretched”..

Intended to house around 1,500 migrants for less than 24
hours at a time, numbers have swelled to more than double that,
with one Afghan family saying they had been there for 32 days.

Braverman, who is charge of the ministry responsible for
policing and immigration, said she is facing a “political witch
hunt” from opponents.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Nick Macfie and
Angus MacSwan)