London: Britain’s former home secretary Suella Braverman has lashed out at many churches around the country who facilitate bogus asylum claims at an “industrial scale” by wrongly certifying non-Christians.
The Indian-origin Conservative Party MP, who shifted to the Parliament backbenches after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked her from his Cabinet last year, writes in The Daily Telegraph’ this weekend that she is “angry” that the UK is far from taking back control of its borders despite the “landmark restoration” of sovereignty after Brexit.
The immigration hardliner took particular aim at churches which certify that asylum seekers face certain persecution if returned to their Islamic country of origin after befriending the vicar.
“Take the church as an example. While at the Home Office, I became aware of churches around the country facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims,” she said in an opinion piece in the newspaper.
“They are well-known within the migrant communities and, upon arrival in the UK, migrants are directed to these churches as a one-stop shop to bolster their asylum case. Attend mass once a week for a few months, befriend the vicar, get your baptism date in the diary and, bingo, you’ll be signed off by a member of the clergy that you’re now a God-fearing Christian who will face certain persecution if removed to your Islamic country of origin. It has to stop. We must get wise to the problem,” she said.