Have concerns about open borders migration policy with India: UK home secretary

UK home secretary Suella Braverman said she had concerns about an open borders migration policy with India because she didn’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit

Updated on: Oct 6, 2022, 15:10:12 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar, NEW DELHI

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UK home secretary Suella Braverman has expressed “reservations” about a trade deal being negotiated by Britain and India on the grounds that it could increase immigration to the UK and go against the goals of Brexit.

Home secretary Suella Braverman said the largest group of people who overstay in the UK are Indian migrants (Reuters)

The remarks by the Indian-origin Braverman in an interview with The Spectator magazine come against the backdrop of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss asking British officials and negotiators to stick to the Diwali deadline for concluding the free trade agreement.

Also Read: Indian-origin UK minister Suella Braverman blames Leicester clashes on new migrants

According to The Spectator, Braverman didn’t sound thrilled that Truss wants the ambitious trade deal with India and is prepared to include migration in it.

“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she said.

There may be flexibility for students and entrepreneurs, she said. “But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” she added.

Braverman also said that an agreement reached with the Indian government last year by her predecessor Priti Patel to “encourage and facilitate better cooperation” on people who overstay their visas “has not necessarily worked very well”.

She said she campaigned to leave the European Union (EU) because “in part I wanted migration to fall”. She added: “That was in our 2019 manifesto. If you look at net migration figures, they have not fallen – we’re pretty much at the same level as pre-Brexit.”

Braverman said she intends to use “levers” put in place by Patel and former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, such as the points-based system and new visa routes, to “control who we want to come to the country”.

According to UK home office statistics, 20,706 Indians overstayed their visas in 2020, higher than people from any other country.

The Diwali deadline for concluding the trade deal was set by Johnson and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The negotiations were launched when Truss was the secretary of state for international trade.

People familiar with the matter said that the mobility of professionals and students is one of the key issues under the trade deal that is yet to be finalised by the two sides.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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