Tory leader says he would turn away genuine asylum seekers
-9/11/04
Asylum seekers flee
Tory leader says he would turn away genuine asylum seekers
-9/11/04
Asylum seekers fleeing genuine persecution could be turned away under Conservative plans to cap the numbers coming to Britain, Michael Howard has said.
In a statement that confirms the worst fears of many Christians the Tory leader said the party was committed to limiting the number of people granted asylum every year – probably to 20,000 – because it is not possible to admit everyone with a deserving case.
Following the Conservative Party conference at which Michael Howard said he would pull Britain out of the Refugee Convention should the Conservatives be returned to government, the Churches’ Commission Commission for Racial Justice said such plans were ‘alarming and dangerous’.
Speaking about the latest comments from the Conservative leader, a spokesman for the Refugee Council said: “This is extremely worrying. A quota is an arbitrary limit on the number of refugees that can be offered protection.
“It is not asking all that much that the fourth largest economy in the world, one of the richest countries, does its part.”
The comments by Michael Howard came on ITV’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme.
“There are millions of people in the world today who could probably justly claim that they were being persecuted,” the Tory leader said.
“We cannot possibly take them all into this country.”
“You cannot, in all honesty, expect us, a small and crowded island, to accept a wholly disproportionate burden.”
Unless there was an “unforeseen international crisis” said the Tory leader, Britain would turn asylum seekers away once the annual quota had been filled.
Tory leader says he would turn away genuine asylum seekers
-9/11/04
Asylum seekers fleeing genuine persecution could be turned away under Conservative plans to cap the numbers coming to Britain, Michael Howard has said.
In a statement that confirms the worst fears of many Christians the Tory leader said the party was committed to limiting the number of people granted asylum every year – probably to 20,000 – because it is not possible to admit everyone with a deserving case.
Following the Conservative Party conference at which Michael Howard said he would pull Britain out of the Refugee Convention should the Conservatives be returned to government, the Churches’ Commission Commission for Racial Justice said such plans were ‘alarming and dangerous’.
Speaking about the latest comments from the Conservative leader, a spokesman for the Refugee Council said: “This is extremely worrying. A quota is an arbitrary limit on the number of refugees that can be offered protection.
“It is not asking all that much that the fourth largest economy in the world, one of the richest countries, does its part.”
The comments by Michael Howard came on ITV’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme.
“There are millions of people in the world today who could probably justly claim that they were being persecuted,” the Tory leader said.
“We cannot possibly take them all into this country.”
“You cannot, in all honesty, expect us, a small and crowded island, to accept a wholly disproportionate burden.”
Unless there was an “unforeseen international crisis” said the Tory leader, Britain would turn asylum seekers away once the annual quota had been filled.