Victoria Derbyshire speaks with an asylum seeker from Iran, Nima Moradi "When I left my country, I wasn't thinking about the destination, I was thinking about being safe" "When I was in Greece I was thinking to go to Germany, but when I was granted asylum I thought, because I can speak English, I will go to England" "The Rwanda bill will not stop asylum seekers coming to the UK.. See how many people are trying to cross the channel last night.. People have access to information.. They know the bill has passed.. But still they will try to cross the channel.. Because they will think that they won't be amongst the 1% selected to go to Rwanda" "If there was a safe route for me to claim asylum.. For example if the UK had a center I could claim asylum.. I would do that instead of paying people smugglers £3,000 but I crossed because there was no safe route to apply for asylum"
@implausibleblog A very eloquent, knowledgeable person fleeing multiple areas of persecution. Welcome and help us build a successful, growing , multicultural society.
Nima from Iran makes a powerful case on #VictoriaDerbyshire - people flee for safety, not destinations. The #Rwanda plan won't stop crossings as asylum seekers know it only targets a few. What's needed are safe routes to apply, not forced removals putting lives at risk. Desperate people will still cross the Channel no matter the deterrent, as seeking sanctuary is a basic human right.
With reports coming out of Ireland of asylum seekers crossing the border there - it does seem that the Rwanda policy (which I was not a particularly strong supporter of) is indeed starting to have a deterrent effect, albeit through an unexpected mechanism. I recall lots of people on this thread dismissing its deterrent effect totally. But Im not surprised if its starting to effect peoples willingness to travel to and stay in the UK illegally. These sorts of policies can easily have a deterrent effect that is disproportionate to their actual direct impact.
@implausibleblog Establishing a 'safe/legal' route is the only answer - why are UK refusing to operate a checkpoint in France when France have offered the option to them?
@implausibleblog The idea that a flight to Rwanda would feel threatening to someone fleeing death is laughable.
@implausibleblog It does strike me that if you willing to risk a pretty high chance of death, a tiny chance to being flown to Rwanda doesn’t seem so relevant in decision making….
@implausibleblog If there is a safe route (which there should be) what number do we allow to come each year? And surely anyone that was refused would still try to come in illegally anyway? Not sure what the answer is tbh.
@implausibleblog Surely if he has already been granted asylum in a safe country, his no longer an Asylum seeker. As he was in a safe country he could have applied through the correct channels ?
@implausibleblog So in a safe country where asylum has been granted he decided to leave and come to the UK. So he is an economic migrant rather than an asylum seeker. This is what frustrates people and this is what drives people smuggling, people not abiding by the rules of their asylum claims.