Suella Braverman asks if UN refugee rules are fit for modern age

Suella Braverman is expected to say in a speech that politicians need to question if the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention is “fit for our modern age.”  

The home secretary will be addressing a think tank in Washington DC where she will describe the convention as an “incredible achievement of its age”.

She will argue that shifts in interpretation has led to increased numbers being defined as refugees. 

Labour has accused Braverment of having “given up on fixing” the asylum system. “Now she’s resorting to grandstanding abroad and looking for anyone else to blame,” said shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper.

The Refugee Convention was drawn up at the end of WW2. At its centre, it says refugees should not be returned to countries where they face threats to their life or freedom. 

She will tell an audience at the American Enterprise Institute that it is 70 years since the convention was agreed and “we now live in a completely different time.”

“Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman. Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary.

“But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection.

“The status quo, where people are able to travel through multiple safe countries, and even reside in safe countries for years, while they pick their preferred destination to claim asylum, is absurd and unsustainable.”