Aussie PM Malcom Turnbull says UK must use Brexit to take back control of its borders after EU ‘outsourcing’
His intervention comes as the House of Lords want Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to block the EU from renewing a contract to rescue migrants at sea
AUSSIE PM Malcolm Turnbull blasted Europe for failing to stem the “unsustainable” numbers of migrants flooding to the continent as he told the EU to adopt Australia’s no-holds-barred border policy.
His powerful intervention came as the EU was slammed over its “failed” naval mission to destroy people-smuggling routes in the Mediterranean.
A House of Lords report has urged Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to block the EU from renewing Operation Sophia’s contract when he and his European counterparts vote on the decision next week.
The scathing assessment of the Brussels mission found people-smugglers had responded by deliberately sending dodgy boats out to sea so the EU operation is forced to rescue migrants and bring them onto mainland Europe.
In a speech attended by Home Secretary Amber Rudd earlier this week Mr Turnbull told UK ministers it is “absolutely critical” they use Brexit to seize back control of Britain’s borders - and regain public trust on immigration.
Slamming EU freedom of movement rules for undermining trust in politicians across Europe, he said: “It’s a fundamentally incident of sovereignty and so when you outsource your borders, you outsource your sovereignty.”
The Aussie premier warned Europe that “weak borders fragments social cohesion”. And he told the continent’s leaders to learn from Australia’s lesson or face a “drain public revenue, raise community concerns about national security, and ultimately undermine the consensus required to sustain high levels of immigration and indeed multiculturalism itself”.
He said the Aussie Labor party’s soft border policies had cost £6 billion in managing the 50,000 illegal arrivals in just six years and caused more than 1,200 deaths at sea. And he boasted that no illegal migrants had entered the country in more than 1,000 days.
Mr Turnbull said: “As Europe grapples today with unsustainable inflows of migrants and asylum seekers, the Australian experience offers both a cautionary tale and the seeds of a potential solution.”