It is difficult for politicians to ignore electoral politics. Because of electoral politics, a number of countries have given shelter to countless migrants. Again, many countries have done just the opposite due to the same. Both Houses of the British Parliament recently passed a new Migration Bill that would become a law once it gets the King’s signature. The newly-passed Migration Bill is called Stop the Boats. The real purpose of this Bill is to stop and turn away those boats that try to cross the English Channel in order to reach Britain’s shores with thousands of migrants.

As per the Bill, an asylum seeker would not be eligible for asylum in the UK, if s/he stops for even a short period of time in another country on her/his way to Britain, and does not suffer any repression there. No matter how deplorable their overall situation is, they shall not get safety measures and enjoy Human Rights as refugees on British soil. Furthermore, migrants shall either be sent back to their country of origin or to a third country where they may not get asylum.

Well, Britain is all set to introduce this inhumane law in the 21st Century. It is not an isolated incident, as this is what is being seen in the Developed World. Somewhere a country builds a huge wall near its borders with a neighbouring country, while some countries brutally return refugees, and migrants spend their days in deplorable conditions at detention centres at some places. In its latest report, the UN has mentioned that as children are being separated from their parents or guardians in some countries, incidents of Human Rights violations, exploitation, abuse, rape, murder, trafficking and slavery are on the rise.

According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, European countries, including Britain, are responsible in principle for protecting migrants or refugees. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned London, stating that the move would set a bad example for other European countries to abdicate their responsibility for migrants. As a result, the international process of asylum and protection of Human Rights of migrants shall be severely shaken worldwide.

Britain is not at all worried about all these. The Conservative Government in London has always advocated a tougher migration policy. There is no difference between former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Rwanda Plan and the Stop the Boats Bill of incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In fact, making promises at the UN or at international level and serving national interests are different issues. The major challenge for the British Government is to make a steady economic recovery in post-COVID and post-Brexit era. The migrants are all set to become the victims of the Sunak Administration‘s strict measures to deal with the economic crisis. The Conservative Government shall certainly try to retain power by winning the next Parliamentary Election on the basis of this migration policy.

Power Politics is consciously deaf… the pleas for saving the lives of thousands of people floating in the water do not reach their ears.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das