'Need a Brit to tell us how to do it' Americans praise Braverman on migration as Biden sees US 'at breaking point'
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The Home Secretary was praised for making the case for 'legal, rational, controlled' immigration 'better than any American politician has'
Suella Braverman has been praised in the US for her speech calling on world leaders to do more to tackle illegal immigration.
The US-based New York post wrote an Op-Ed saying "Bravo for Braverman" after yesterday's speech, which the Home Secretary delivered to centre-right thinktank American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
They praised her for making the case for "legal, rational, controlled" immigration "better than any American politician has", slamming Biden for his approach to the issue.
Speaking in Washington yesterday, Braverman called for world leaders to rip up the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
The Home Secretary said that refugees cannot be allowed to "shop around" for safe havens, arguing that the convention is being interpreted as providing a right to asylum to those who face discrimination, rather than persecution.
As a result, she claimed that as many as 780 million extra people are eligible for resettlement.
"Nobody entering the UK by boat from France is fleeing imminent peril", she said, adding: "There is an argument that they should cease to be treated as refugees when considering the legitimacy of their onward movement."
She warned that “seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing.”
Responding, the New York Post said: "Sound familiar? Such economic migrants are the overwhelming majority of the “asylum seekers” flooding over the US borders that President Joe Biden opened."
The Home Secretary also said that "simply being gay, or a woman" should not by itself be enough to qualify for protection under international refugee laws.
She added: "Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman. Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary.
"But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection."
Praising the speech, US outlet the New York Post said: "Braverman, incidentally, is a Cabinet member — the British Home Secretary. Imagine Alejandro Mayorkas or Antony Blinken saying anything like this.
"We, like most Americans, believe in legal, rational, controlled immigration, the very kind that produces the likes of Suella Braverman.
"What the left is pushing across the West is anything but that.
"Thanks to Braverman for making the case better than any American politician has."
But her speech has not had an entirely warm reception in the UK, with Freedom from Torture chief executive Sonya Sceats saying: "Having already trampled over international law with the Illegal Migration Act, it is shocking to see the Home Secretary imploring the US and other democracies to tear up treaties designed to protect human rights.
"This will make the world an even more dangerous place, and not just for torture survivors seeking safety, but for all of us."
Meanwhile, writing in the Express, Chair of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon said: "Since it was established back in 1951, the convention has saved hundreds of thousands of lives – from those fleeing ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, torture in Zimbabwe or war in Syria and Ukraine.
"These are people who have gone on to contribute to the richness of our communities – becoming friends, colleagues and neighbours.
"Paying taxes and playing by the rules they have become law-abiding proud Britons.
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Braverman warned that “seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing"
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"Today, instead of returning to the old days in which countries pulled up the draw bridge and turned their back on those whom they don’t want to offer protection to we must continue to safeguard the promise of safety."
Braverman's Labour counterpart Yvette Cooper said: "The Home Secretary has given up on fixing the Tories’ asylum chaos at home so now she’s resorting to grandstanding abroad and looking for anyone else to blame."