Ben & Jerry’s take over the UK Government’s treatment of refugees

In a series of tweets On Tuesday, politically charged ice cream company UK recalled Home Secretary of State Priti Patel’s attempt to shrink refugees in an attempt to cross the English Channel, suggesting it was inhumane and in conflict with international law.

Patel wants to stop “illegal” attempts by migrants to reach the United Kingdom by encroaching on small inflatable boats and crossing the sea from France. In a statement Sunday, she announced the creation of a new government role – the “Clandestine Channel Threat Commander” – aimed at “making the canal route unacceptable for small boat crossings.”

Their plan is to investigate tougher action in France, including arresting those who arrange the crossing, and receiving and returning boats that manage to leave French waters. More than 4,000 people have successfully crossed the small canal into small boats this year. They are originally from countries such as Yemen, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, according to the BBC.

“I know that when the British people say they want to take control of our borders – this is exactly what they mean,” Patel said on Twitter on Friday, referring to a slogan used by Brexit supporters during the 2016 EU referendum campaign and since.

“Hey @PritiPatel, we think the real crisis is our lack of humanity for people fleeing war, climate change and torture,” Ben & Jerry’s UK posted late Tuesday on its official Twitter account. “People would not make dangerous journeys if they had another choice. The United Kingdom has not resettled refugees since March, but wars and violence continue,” it added.

“People cannot be illegal … Let us remember that we are all human and have the same rights to life, regardless of the country in which we were born by chance.”

The company reminded Patel that under the Refugee Convention, a multilateral UN treaty, the illegal entry of refugees does not affect their right to asylum.

While asylum seekers normally have to apply for asylum in the EU country of first entry, their applications can be transferred to another Member State if they have relatives or dependents, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Laura Padoan, told CNN Business. The United Kingdom will still be treated as an EU state until the end of 2020.

Patel has not responded to the tweets, but others within her ruling Conservative Party seem to be enjoying the challenge.

A Home Office spokesman directed CNN Business at the Twitter account of Immigration Minister Chris Philp, where he defended Britain’s approach.

“They are fleeing France, which is safe, civilized and has a good asylum system. Last year, the United Kingdom made 20,000 asylum subsidies. We are the only G7 country that meets the 0.7% target for support and have the largest recovery of “refugees have been carrying out schemes in Europe for the last 5 years. Stick to ice cream,” Philps said.

The United Kingdom has received significantly fewer asylum seekers than its European neighbors. Britain received nearly 44,300 first-time asylum applications in 2019, according to EU data. Spain, France, Germany and Greece received 75,000 to 142,000 applications each last year.

Amnesty International said on Sunday that the UK Government’s decision to deploy Royal Navy ships to prevent people from exercising their right to seek asylum would be “unfair, inaccurate and dangerous”.

“It is perfectly legitimate for people to seek asylum in this country – even though relatively few people do – and sadly, for some, these dangerous journeys are the only means of obtaining them,” said Steve Valdez-Symonds, director of refugee affairs. migrant from Amnesty International UK rights program, said in a statement.

“The only people who are benefiting from the UK Government’s growing commitment to shift responsibility are smugglers and hate mongers,” he added.

The United Kingdom has put 18,252 Syrian refugees through official channels since 2014, according to Amnesty International, which describes it as “a pitifully small proportion of the nearly 4 million Syrians in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.” Worldwide, about 84% of all refugees live in developing regions, according to the UNHCR.

“We are a wholly owned subsidiary [of Unilever]”But we still act on the mission, vision and values ​​of Ben & Jerry,” a CNN Business spokesman said in June.