UK Parliament / Open data

Refugee Family Reunion

Proceeding contribution from Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 21 June 2018. It occurred during Backbench debate on Refugee Family Reunion.

The right hon. Gentleman is right that, clearly, criminals are not, in the first instance, driving this issue. There are many social, political and economic reasons for this phenomenon but, certainly in the parts of Libya that I saw and in the migrant camps in Sicily where I talked to a few people who were unlucky enough to be trafficked, a big criminal enterprise underpins it. It is very easy in the Chamber of the House of Commons to focus on the humanitarian aspects and to remind Members of our obligations not only as MPs but as citizens and human beings to very vulnerable people. I completely accept that. It is too easy for people in this Chamber to turn a blind eye to what is actually going on from the economic and criminal point of view, which is, frankly, a scandal. Too little of our political debate focuses on these wicked criminal elements. We must take a much bigger view.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
643 c537 
Session
2017-19
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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