Pressure mounts on Home Secretary Suella Braverman to tackle refugee ‘backlog’ with safe routes amid Kent migrant facility accusation

More than 110 refugee charities have signed an open letter to the Cabinet minister, calling for a ‘kind and effective system’ for those seeking asylum in the UK.

It referred to comments made by Ms Braverman at a fringe event during the Conservative Party conference earlier this month, that her ‘dream’ and ‘obsession’ is seeing a plane taking off to Rwanda with migrants.

She has also said the only way for refugees to get into the UK is through a ‘safe and legal route’.

The letter read: ‘Home Secretary, when you talk of “safe and legal routes”, you must be aware that it is impossible to ask refugees to come exclusively through such a path when even Afghan interpreters who are eligible for one of our few existing schemes remain in hiding from the Taliban.

‘When you talk of “illegal migrants”, you must be aware that the top nationalities of people making dangerous journeys include Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria, and that at least 97 per cent of asylum claims made by people from these countries are successful.

‘When you question the existence of “modern slavery”, you must be aware that you are dismantling your own party’s proud and internationally-recognised achievement in protecting the survivors of trafficking.

‘And when you complain about the cost of housing asylum seekers, you must be aware that, while people seeking safety did not choose to leave their homelands, they are willing to work and keen to contribute, if only the law permitted them.

‘You have referred to this country’s proud history of offering sanctuary, so we ask you to make this happen with a fair, kind and effective system for refugees.

‘Deal with the backlog in asylum cases, create safe routes, respect international law, and the UN convention on refugees, and give refugees a fair hearing, however they get here. Then you would have really done something worth dreaming about.’

The letter was co-ordinated by charity IMIX and coalition campaign Together With Refugees.

Almost 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Saturday.

Earlier this month, Ms Braverman said migrants crossing the Channel would be banned from claiming asylum.

A Home Office spokesperson said the public expects the government to ‘control immigration’.

They added: ‘The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who genuinely need it through our safe and legal routes, recently welcoming hundreds of thousands of people from Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

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‘We are using every tool at our disposal to deter illegal migration, disrupt the business model of people smugglers and relocate to Rwanda, those with no right to be in the UK.’

Ms Braverman, Fareham MP, has come under scrutiny for her handling of worsening conditions at the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent.

It is alleged the facility was overcrowded, as 700 people were moved from a Dover migrant centre that was firebombed.

Ms Braverman allegedly failed to heed legal advice that migrants were being detained at the facility for unlawfully long periods, the Sunday Times reported.

Cabinet colleague Michael Gove rejected the claims, describing her as a ‘first-rate, front-rank politician’.