'British People Frustrated': Suella Braverman Says UK Needs Firm Approach To Tackle Illegal Immigration At Ideas Of India

Suella Braverman, who has always been under spotlight over her stance on immigration policy, shared her thoughts on the issue and elaborated on how the UK is facing a crisis arising from the same.

Former UK Home Secretary in the British PM Rishi Sunak-led cabinet, Suella Braverman's views on immigration have always garnered extreme reactions, sparked debated and attracted widespread criticism. Speaking at the ABP Network's 'Ideas Of India Summit' the firebrand Tory MP elaborated on her thoughts when Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asked how she looked at the negative labels thrown at her over her views on the issue. Stating that the issue of illegal immigration was of serious concern in the UK, she asserted that even PM Rishi Sunak is committed to fixing the issue leading to frustration among British citizens.

She said, "In 2022 we had 45,000 people crossing the English Channel on a dingy illegally. They did not have the legal right to live in the UK. They were leaving a safe country like France to live in the UK, undermining our border security. This is an issue or pressing salience. The British people are frustrated with what they see on our southern border and it happened Post Brexit and the government must fix it."

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Asserting that the government needs a firm approach to handle the issue, she threw light on the problem brought upon by such illegal immigration. She said, 
"I have been attempting to reflect the very strong concern of the majority of British people about illegal migration in the UK. We need to take a firm and fair approach. It's a humanitarian challenge, people are dying in the Channel to get to the UK, they are being exploited by criminal gangs and people smugglers, they are often vulnerable but they are abusing our immigration rules and it cannot continue."

She also said that growing migration to the UK was stressing the country's resources, she said, "The UK has an enviable record of welcoming millions of people over decades... But if you look at the levels of migration today, they are simply unsustainable... Last year, net legal migration into the UK stood at 700,000. That's an increase from 240,000 from 2019. Such numbers are not sustainable considering the UK's finite resources. Our resources are under strain due to rapid population increase, which includes migration."