U.K. PM Sunak defends new ‘Stop The Boats’ migration crackdown

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday defended his new "Stop the Boats" crackdown on migrants making unsafe journeys across the English Channel to illegally cross over into the UK from neighbouring France. Rishi Sunak was challenged during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons by the Opposition over the feasibility of the Illegal Migration Bill tabled in Parliament, which would see all those arriving illegally on such "small boats" either returned to their home country or another "safe third country". Additionally, anyone found to have entered the country illegally blocked from returning or claiming British citizenship in future.

"Stopping the boats is not just my priority, it's the people's priority," he told MPs. "Our position is clear, if you arrive here illegally you will not be able to claim asylum," he said. "People must know that if they come here illegally it will result in their detention and swift removal. Once this happens-- and they know it will happen-- they will not come, and the boats will stop," said Sunak. Opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer countered that the government's proposals as just "more talk, more gimmicks, more promises to be broken". But Sunak countered that while he has a clear plan to stop people coming in the first place, Labour has no plan because it does not want to tackle the problem.

The move follows Indian-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman laying out the government's proposals in the Commons on Tuesday, in an attempt to curb an expected 40,000 people crossing the English Channel this year-- a figure that is significantly higher than the few hundreds making the dangerous crossings a few years ago. "It has to stop. By bringing in new laws, I am making it absolutely clear that the only route to the UK is a safe and legal route," said Braverman.