Nations across the globe must work together to tackle a massive increase in illegal migration and people smuggling, Home Secretary Suella Braverman will tell a Washington audience this week.
She will warn that institutions set up after the Second World War to ensure refugees were given a safe haven are no longer “fit
for purpose”.
Her comments are likely to please Tory MPs pushing the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. And the Home Secretary will say other countries can learn from the UK’s innovative approach to tackling the problem.
Ms Braverman travels to the US tomorrow for a three-day visit including talks with police forces and the Department for Homeland Security.
She will deliver a speech on Tuesday titled Global Migration Challenges, highlighting various issues facing countries, including the US and UK, as millions of people cross borders worldwide. Speaking in advance of the trip, the Home Secretary said: “Illegal migration and the unprecedented mass movement of people across the globe is placing unsustainable pressures on America, the UK, and Europe.
“We must come together and ask whether the international conventions and legal frameworks designed 50-plus years ago are fit for purpose in an age of jet travel and smart-phones. I’m going to Washington to discuss this crisis with our American counterparts.
“If we fail to meet these challenges, then our political institutions risk losing their democratic legitimacy.” Some Conservative MPs want the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, established in 1950, after a European court last year prevented asylum seekers being removed to Rwanda.
The Government is awaiting a ruling on the Rwanda initiative from the UK’s own Supreme Court.
Ms Braverman will also be briefed during her visit on the deadly fentanyl epidemic gripping the US.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin. The drug, which can be prescribed by doctors as a painkiller, is also illegally manufactured and sold by criminal gangs.
According to the US Government, drug over- doses led to the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans in 2021. This equates to more than 270 deaths per day.
On her trip to the US capital, Ms Braverman will talk to politicians and senior officials including Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Topics include migration, national security, serious organised crime and fraud.
In addition, the Home Secretary is due to visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to see how the organisation works with law enforcement worldwide to tackle the evolving threat of paedophiles and online child abuse.
It follows her call last week for social media companies such as Meta, owners of WhatsApp, to halt the rollout of end-to-end encryption without robust safety measures.
These should that ensure children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation in messaging channels.
