Braverman’s bravado

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who took charge a month ago, has struck a discordant note with her statements targeting migrants, legal or otherwise. She has expressed reservations about visa norms for students and entrepreneurs under a free trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated by India and Britain, claiming that Indian migrants comprise the largest group of people who overstay in the UK. Braverman is also bent on following in the footsteps of her predecessor Priti Patel by ensuring the success of a scheme to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, besides curbing ‘abuse’ of UK’s long-established asylum system.

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India has rightly taken exception to the Home Secretary’s statement on visa overstay, saying that action has been initiated in all such cases referred to the High Commission. New Delhi has also asserted that it awaits ‘demonstrable progress’ on commitments undertaken by the UK government under the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP), which was signed last year. Braverman’s unfounded fears about an ‘open borders’ migration policy have cast a shadow not only on the MMP but also on the proposed FTA, which has a Diwali deadline. This is an ominous sign for India-UK ties, which have made rapid strides in recent years.

The asylum system was at the core of the British immigration policy that opened the floodgates to migrants during the last two decades of the 20th century. In 1979, the total number of asylum applications received by the UK was around 1,500; the figure crossed 11,000 in 1989 and shot up to nearly 45,000 in 1991. Britain spared no effort to rile India by liberally accommodating asylum-seekers from militancy-hit Punjab and J&K. Having allowed abuse of the system for vested interests for so long, it’s sheer hypocrisy on the UK’s part to talk about a clean-up now. Ironically, the colonial hangover persists even though India has overtaken Britain as the world’s fifth largest economy. Braverman is well advised to avoid remarks bordering on xenophobia. Migrants have contributed invaluably to Britain’s economic and multicultural growth and will continue to do so. Antagonising or vilifying them can be perilous for the UK.