Taking in more Palestinian refugees is a terrible idea

On Sunday we learned that a former bodyguard to the leader of Hamas was granted citizenship in Britain before allegedly ‘plotting’ a terrorist attack against Jews in Europe. This has shown just how dangerous our migration and borders policies are, and how unsafe they have made us. The country is full of people who wish us ill and more arrive every week. Even Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terror legislation, has described mass migration as a national security threat. Last week we also learned that some illegal crossings were not being intercepted, meaning illegal migrants might well be bringing weapons with them. Opening these paths will doom us to an endless flow of people who should not be here and whose presence will be harmful to this country and its people. The Home Secretary’s response to this, we learned on Monday, is to announce an act of profound national self-harm. At Labour’s conference, she announced a new legal route for refugees that prioritises Afghan women and girls, and Palestinians. Note the weasel words here – presumably Palestinian men will be welcome. According to the Guardian’s reporting, those ‘who arrive via the scheme will have a far more generous route to permanent settlement’ in which they will be ‘granted indefinite leave to remain, which will give them a five year path’ – in contrast with illegal arrivals who the government intends to grant refugee status with regular reviews. Apparently, the ‘Home Office expects about one in four arrivals to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees’, although we are reassured that ‘numbers will initially be very small and capped’. This is an appalling idea. Palestinians are probably the worst migrant population on Earth. We know this because in March 1992, Denmark made the mistake of granting residence to 321 of them. As of 2016 over 63 per cent had been convicted of at least one crime, with 67 of them being jailed. Even then, in the 1990s, Palestinians were highly criminal and highly economically inactive. Now, having been ruled by Hamas for over two decades, fed endless anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli propaganda, they are even worse. Similarly, we know that Afghans have very low levels of economic activity and the men are around 14 to 20 times more likely to commit sexual offences than British men. Most popular Alexander Kolyandr Russia’s economy is slowly rotting Patrick West What kind of man abandons a child in the Channel? Lois McLatchie Miller The gender row that could derail Labour conference But, the migration maximalists will argue, that’s why the Home Secretary is cleverly only letting Afghan women and children use this scheme. The problem with this claim is that ‘family reunification’ will kick in as soon as they’re here. Just as with the Palestinian woman who imported 18 members of her extended family , so all the Afghan women and girls we allow into the country will soon be able to bring their brothers, husbands, sons and cousins to our shores. This is also the reason that the proposed caps, and the promise that numbers will ‘be very small’ are worthless. The British immigration system is built to maximise every route. And so opening these paths will doom us to an endless flow of people who should not be here and whose presence will be harmful to this country and its people. If that wasn’t enough, the Home Secretary has also confirmed that new schemes will open, under which charities and not-for-profits can sponsor refugees. This will merely be a licence for extremist pro-migration groups to flood the country with their favourite nationalities. As Alp Mehmet, Chair of Migration Watch said to me: ‘the government is outsourcing immigration control to claim savings and keep its backbenchers onside. The Canadian attempt at a similar scheme was disastrous. As I recently warned the Public Bill Committee of MPs, these “safe route”’ will prove to be as catastrophic as the scheme that spawned the Boriswave while doing little to stop illegal immigration. “Shabanawave” here we come’. Perhaps it would all be a little less outrageous if we were getting the long-promised indefinite leave to remain (ILR) reforms which would prevent the Boriswave from settling. But there too, Mahmood has disappointed. The Home Secretary has indicated that the proposed ILR changes will be softened, saying that: ‘I know that, throughout our consultation process, some have said elements of these reforms are not fair. To that: let me say this. We will come to a position that balances fairness for those who came here legally, and fairness to British citizens across this country.’ It’s tragic, really. A surrender to Labour’s deluded left. All of these policies are terrible choices for the country. Fiscally ruinous. Crime-maximising. And entirely antithetical to the interests of the British people. The most charitable explanation is that Mahmood realises what should be done but is unable to take her MPs with her, and so is damaging this nation in order to shore up support from Labour MPs and the unions . It’s appalling, and it’s all going to have to be reversed under the next government.