Thread by @stand_for_all

THREAD: There's a lot going on with the government's current rhetoric towards asylum seekers which possibly needs a little analysis and explanation. First and foremost though it is important to note that none of it is particularly new. 1/

The aim, of the Nationality and Borders Bill and the wider rhetoric in general is pretty clearly to deny asylum to as many people as possible, as demonstrated aptly by Patel claiming that people with "too much documentation" couldn't be refugees. 2/
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

Compare and contrast to the usual line that those arriving without documents are trying to "game the system" by throwing documents overboard, particularly in regard to age assessments. So essentially they are in a catch 22 of damned if they have them, damned if they don't. 3/

What about age assessments though? There is a phrase in international law, "the presumption of minority". Currently even our existing tests are failing that all too often. Children are being classed as adults and put at further risk. 4/
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

By implementing amendments to the #bordersbill , including "scientific age assessments" this is liable to get worse, as they aren't actually as accurate as the term makes out, and risks allowing the Home Office to override local authority decisions. 5/
communitycare.co.uk/2021/03/26/dee…

Now, you don't just need to take my word for this, or "do-gooders", such as UNHCR, and "activist lawyers" who have all pointed out that the #BordersBill will discriminate against children. The government's own Equality and Impact Assessment warns of it. 6/
gov.uk/government/pub…

Simply put, it's a pretty obvious, and pretty monstrous, attempt to undermine child protection to ensure that even unaccompanied minors can be deported by the government, rather than providing them with asylum. 7/

Surely though if people are "genuine refugees" they can avail themselves of the "resettlement routes" which the government spends so much time lauding? Well...no! Last year for example only 353 were granted asylum through these routes. 8/
bylinetimes.com/2021/05/28/gov…

Even those fleeing Afghanistan risk being treated as criminals and deported, not that the UK has actually made significant steps to persuade other countries to take asylum seekers, and I'm pretty sure most of us would agree Afghanistan is not safe. 9/
spectator.co.uk/article/the-me…

So we have few opportunities for people to access UK asylum system via "legal routes" as it is, and even setting aside that the government still hasn't set up a resettlement route for Afghans, globally such schemes only account for fraction of refugees 10/
unhcr.org/refugee-statis…

That leaves those trying to reach safety with few other options than to use what are termed as "irregular routes". I'm just going to throw in a little note that "trafficking" and "smuggling" are actually different things, wit different impacts on those affected. 11/

But why do they even need to reach the UK anyway? Well, there's a lot of reasons, and I guarantee you that being stuck in hotels is not the "pull factor" Priti Patel makes out, nor is receiving a lower "asylum benefit" than countries such as France and Germany. 12/

There is also no requirement in international law for people to seek asylum in the "first safe country", and, as @ZoeJardiniere explains better than I can here, there are very good reasons why people seek asylum in the UK. 13/

https://twitter.com/JCWI_UK/status/1445326169977540609?s=20

There are also good reasons why the handful, and in the grand scheme it is a handful, of people who do cross to seek asylum in the UK may not feel safe in EU countries. Attacks, homelessness, denial of food and support are all unfortunately too common. 14/
hrw.org/world-report/2…

What the government is trying to do is make out that anyone who seeks asylum in the UK should be automatically denied it, because the very act of seeking it shows they aren't "genuine refugees". There is no such thing as a "bogus asylum seeker" though 15/
unhcr.org/uk/asylum-in-t…

If the UK continues down this path to prevent anyone seeking asylum here, which is the ultimate goal it would seem, then what is to stop other countries. These plans risk undermining the entire international refugee regime and placing people's lives at even greater risk. 16/