In response to the Home Secretary’s comment that asylum seekers are an ‘invasion' of the south coast, Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said:

“Suella Braverman needs to face up to the wreckage that Government policy has made of the asylum system and stop trying to distract from it by demonising the people who are suffering as a result.

“No responsible person should ever use language that risks inciting hostility and hate – that’s still the case even if we hadn’t just witnessed the horrifying petrol bomb attack on people seeking asylum at Western Jet Foil facility in Dover.

“People have the right to seek sanctuary in the UK and Home Office data shows that most people who do are entitled to receive it. Responding to people fleeing conflict and persecution with cruel policies and inciteful rhetoric is not just wrong, it is extremely dangerous. 

“The dire conditions at Manston, chaotic backlog of asylum cases and prolonged use of hotel accommodation could all have been avoided if ministers had not chosen to stop or slow processing people's claims.

“The Government must urgently make resources available to address the mess they have created and reverse the policies that continue to exacerbate this.

“The Home Secretary should also address the likely impact of her language towards people for whose safety and welfare she is chiefly responsible and who have been terrorised directly or indirectly by the attack over the weekend.”