New: On Wednesday Braverman said there's "no good reason for anybody to get into a small boat".
I've just returned from the camps of northern France and saw the conditions there. No good reason? There's no choice BUT to get in a small boat.
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Nicola Kelly
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Journalist. Used to work for the - now report on it, mainly . Got a story? My DMs are open.
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Change of plan: it's now running next Sunday so it doesn't get lost in coronation coverage.
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Exclusive from me this Sunday on abuse in Home Office hotels. Some very strong allegations from whistleblowers to watch out for amid the coronation coverage.
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SUDAN: British families are being ripped apart. Mohamed from Cardiff,told me his 8-month pregnant Sudanese wife is displaced in Khartoum. Her home was bombed, she has yet to be granted an emergency visa &cannot evacuate as the UK embassy has her passport
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Oil rigs are now back on the list of places to house asylum seekers, along with barges, ferries and cruise ships. A plan considered so outlandish in 2020 that it was immediately scrapped.
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Incredibly concerning - especially as a desire to prevent risk to lives is claimed by the government as its reason for booting refugees off to Rwanda as a deterrent
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Around 440 people were left adrift after the UK coastguard failed to launch a search and rescue response in weeks leading up to the disaster of 24 November 2021, when at least 27 people died.
Proud to have contributed reporting with @LInvestigates.
theguardian.com/world/2023/apr
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Around 440 people were left adrift after the UK coastguard failed to launch a search and rescue response in weeks leading up to the disaster of 24 November 2021, when at least 27 people died.
Proud to have contributed reporting with .
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Understaffing in the coastguard reached dangerous levels. Only two operational staff were on duty in the early hours of 24 November, the night at least 27 people are known to have died. One was still a trainee.
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Une équipe ( ) révèle les manquements dans la prise en charge des 📞 de détresse dans la Manche en amont de la tragédie du 24 nov 2022.
En écho à l’enquête de lemonde.fr/societe/articl
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‘Horror beyond words’: how Channel distress calls were ‘ignored’ 19 times before 2021 disaster theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/a
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After a year of digging, we can reveal how an understaffed Dover coastguard failed to send help to reports of small boats in trouble at sea in Nov 2021.
This culminated in the worst Channel disaster in decades, when 27 people died.
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We reveal with today that 440 people on small boats appear to have been left adrift in the weeks before the worst Channel disaster in decades.
was amazing. Thanks also to & who contributed reporting.
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Around 440 people were left adrift after the UK coastguard failed to launch a search and rescue response in weeks leading up to the disaster of 24 November 2021, when at least 27 people died.
Proud to have contributed reporting with .
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This week, Suella Braverman said: “There is no good reason for anybody to get into a small boat to cross the Channel”.
Read the response from journalist – and former Home Office worker – ⤵️
opendemocracy.net/en/author/nico
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"All safe routes are effectively closed. The Afghan Scheme has been an utter failure, bringing only a handful of people. And there have been no suggestions a programme will be opened for Sudan. No good reason to get in a small boat? There is no choice but to get in a small boat".
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New: On Wednesday Braverman said there's "no good reason for anybody to get into a small boat".
I've just returned from the camps of northern France and saw the conditions there. No good reason? There's no choice BUT to get in a small boat.
opendemocracy.net/en/suella-brav
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. framing the current debate from the perspective of someone displaced in Calais. France has made the conditions there deliberately unsafe
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Brilliant, urgent piece 👇
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New: On Wednesday Braverman said there's "no good reason for anybody to get into a small boat".
I've just returned from the camps of northern France and saw the conditions there. No good reason? There's no choice BUT to get in a small boat.
opendemocracy.net/en/suella-brav
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The allegations in here are appalling: police destroying asylum seekers' boats and tents, breaking up families, leaving kids without water and even cutting back trees so people have nowhere to shelter. Our taxes are paying for this.
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. on Braverman's comments: "Part of what, unfortunately, the home secretary has a tendency to do, is to make sweeping statements based upon nothing."
Says she needs "a commitment to facts, making policy based upon evidence."
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Replying to
Yesterday, after making the dangerous journey to the airfield, my 2 and 6 year old British nieces were refused evacuation with their Sudanese mother. They clearly thought stopping a Sudanese mother from evacuating is worth sending “British National” kids back into a war zone
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Theresa May on illegal migration bill: I would say this is a slap in the face to those of us who actually care about the victims of modern slavery...it also suggests that those dealing with this bill simply do not understand the nature of these crimes.”
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Haggis_UK 
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I visited the Suites Hotel in Knowsley a couple of weeks ago and spoke to people staying there. The far-right attacks have continued outside every Friday evening since February - this wasn't a one-off. All residents now have a curfew.
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‘It’s absolutely dire’
ex Home Office press officer has returned from refugee camps in France.
tells taxpayer money is being used by to slash refugee tents, take belongings & leave people on a wasteland.
there are still no legal routes from most countries.
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Great to be on LBC with alongside just now, talking through some of Braverman's rhetoric this morning. It really jars, not least after a week spent in the camps of northern France.
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UNHCR response to Braverman: No mechanism to claim asylum in the UK through UNHCR and no asylum visa or queue for the UK.
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You can’t apply to seek asylum to the U.K. via UNHCR in Sudan. This is just simply untrue. twitter.com/SkyNews/status…
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At PMQs Rishi Sunak just called people living in hotels "illegal asylum seekers" - a legal impossibility.
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There are no UN agencies present in northern France. No IOM. No major aid organisation. The French state provides nothing - not even drinking water. With no processing centre in Calais, Dunkirk or anywhere nearby there is no choice but to cross in a small boat, as she well knows.
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It is worth reading this from Robert Jenrick to get a sense of how far the Conservative Party (or at least the current governing faction) has fallen, intellectually, morally and legally.
conservativehome.com/2023/04/26/rob
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“Mr Jenrick was unable to say exactly what it was about asylum seekers’ lifestyles that had such an impact, or whether he was talking about people from a certain country”
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What an utter failure the Afghanistan schemes are. Having risked their lives to protect the British Embassy, these 100 Nepali guards rightly expected they would be allowed to settle in the UK. Instead, they were returned to Nepal against their wishes.
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To not repeat the embarrassment of Afghanistan, UK must:
a) evacuate all nationals that worked for UK interests
b) offer safe routes for those in need of protection
c) give immediate amnesty to Sudanese in the UK asylum system
d) ease family reunion
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Amazing opportunity for a refugee to study a master's in law in the University of Liverpool, with a full fee waiver & accommodation/living costs covered, as well as visa help & language assistance. Share far & wide. Applications due by May 26. liverpool.ac.uk/law/scholarshi
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Another good newsletter from describing cabinet-attending Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick as "de facto Home Secretary" (subscribe here: ft.com/newsletters?em)
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"We found a system which left people despondent and suicidal." We are releasing our report into the experiences of asylum seekers on Monday. What is clear is that issues go beyond just accommodation. They are rooted in the whole way people are treated.
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Twitter has verified the (previously banned) far-right party Britain First as an "official organisation" and is giving blue ticks to anyone "affiliated" with it
That will amplify their tweets to non-followers
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The Government has given millions to French authorities to support a campaign of harassment & eviction against those stuck in limbo on the Calais border.
Instead of this dysfunctional, dangerous approach, they should give people a chance to rebuild their lives in safety.
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See these tents? In all likelihood they'll be gone tomorrow. So will the water tanks, which locals have started stabbing so there's no fresh water to drink. The French authorities provide nothing except coaches to bring people from the camps to Lille, where they can claim asylum.
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This!!! Thank you - & an utter pleasure to meet you.
Considering just how far our general press & / go to ignore why it is refugees flee France, you stating it like it is in "modern-day" Europe is everything.
#RefugeesWelcome
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See these tents? In all likelihood they'll be gone tomorrow. So will the water tanks, which locals have started stabbing so there's no fresh water to drink. The French authorities provide nothing except coaches to bring people from the camps to Lille, where they can claim asylum.
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See these tents? In all likelihood they'll be gone tomorrow. So will the water tanks, which locals have started stabbing so there's no fresh water to drink. The French authorities provide nothing except coaches to bring people from the camps to Lille, where they can claim asylum.
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