Sajid Javid criticised for asylum seeker remarks

Home Secretary questioned whether refugees crossing the English Channel are ‘genuine’

Sajid Javid
Sajid Javid has defended move to strip Shamima Begum of citizenship amid diplomatic row with Bangladesh
(Image credit: Gareth Fuller/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sajid Javid has questioned whether people crossing the English Channel are “genuine” asylum seekers, prompting criticism from opposition MPs, immigration experts and refugee charities.

Speaking during a visit to Dover yesterday, the Home Secretary said: “A question has to be asked: if you are a genuine asylum seeker why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in?”

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