THREAD: Even I am amazed that so far @CCTCommander is batting five for five on releasing tweets that are either directly false or disingenuous in their presentation of information so as to give false impression of the situation regarding asylum seekers crossing the channel. 1/ https://twitter.com/stand_for_all/status/1314916978986024960

First tweet gives impression all channel crossings are facilitated by smugglers, once again creating impression smuggling and trafficking are same thing. Doesn't sound much, but as trafficking is more likely to lead to exploitation and slavery it's probably worth mentioning. 2/

Nothing ostensibly wrong here, but reading it you could be forgiven for not realising information sharing is routine already, and has been shown to have certain, shall we say, negative uses risking refugees rights and French interceptions have increased about fivefold in 2020 3/

Third tweet and not only RT's @ukhomeoffice tweet which falsely conflates Foreign National Offenders with asylum seekers, creating impression they're criminals, but also ignores they're entitled to enter a country by any means and have claims heard under international law. 4/

Number 4, same issues as @CCTCommander first ever tweet. Sounds pedantic, but distinction between smugglers and traffickers is important, particularly as @ukhomeoffice has a track record of targeting victims of both making it harder to catch traffickers who exploit people. 5/

And latest tweet at time of writing. This one is particularly worrying as it appears that they @CCTCommander doesn't know that smugglers have been forcing asylum seekers to pilot vessels through threats and blackmail, so he is actually calling for victims to be imprisoned. 6/

5 tweets, 5 days and @CCTCommander has conflated smuggling with trafficking, ignoring distinct characteristics of both, before advocating for prosecution of victims and violation of International law, while ignoring long standing agreements with other nations. Great start!7/

Btw, I do appreciate this may seem overly pendantic in places, however language is important. By conflating smuggling with trafficking for example you ignore those who use smugglers will often be doing so to apply for asylum, while victims of trafficking may not get chance. 6/

The repeated phrasing of crossings in terms of their legality fails to fully address how asylum seekers are permitted under international law to enter a country by any means they deem necessary to seek asylum, without being penalised for doing so. 7/

When you talk about asylum seekers as if they are criminals you reinforce the idea they should not be provided with safety, something @ukhomeoffice is very deliberately doing at present, and ignore the myriad of reasons why they may seek asylum in UK as opposed to elsewhere. 8/

Crossings have increased primarily because other routes have been closed due to Covid. All it demonstrates is that by making one route "unviable" you force people to make ever more dangerous journeys in different ways, which is more likely to force them into hands of gangs. 9/

It is neither illegal to cross channel, nor to seek asylum and asylum seekers are under no legal obligation to do so in "first safe country". When seeking asylum is framed as an illegal act it starts to prevent people seeking it and therefore places them in increased danger. 10/

We undoubtedly need to tackle criminal gangs which exploit asylum seekers, either through smuggling or trafficking. That isn't achieved by prosecuting those forced into relying on them by a lack of other sensible options. 11/

In fact by prosecuting the victims you make it more unlikely that people can come forward, which allows the real criminals to flourish in the shadows, safe in the knowledge that it is the victims and not them who face the real risks. 12/

Update: We're on 6 days, 6 tweets and @CCTCommander is still batting in bs. "Whatever it takes" apparently includes potentially violating law of the sea and refugee law, while also actively risking capsizing dinghies and drowning asylum seekers. 13/ https://twitter.com/CCTCommander/status/1315257463109750784?s=19

7th tweet by @CCTCommander and it's like a broken record. France has been found guilty of violating refugees rights, police are known to use brutal tactics against asylum seekers. There are many reasons some, and it's a small number, don't find it safe https://twitter.com/CCTCommander/status/1316293049065111552?s=19.

This is going to be a thing now isn't it? Just one tweet @CCTCommander, one tweet which demonstrates some knowledge of complexity of situation, reasons some asylum seekers cross or even acknowledging how making crossing "unviable" risks violating International law. One tweet. 15/

Look, no-one wants to see asylum seekers having to put their lives at risk crossing the channel. No-one is denying that smugglers and traffickers are criminals praying on the vulnerable, but making the crossings more dangerous doesn't stop that @CCTCommander. 16/

By his own admission a number of asylum seekers don't even know they're going to end up in UK. Making route more dangerous won't change that. Most of the real criminals involved are steps away from actual crossings. They don't care. It's vulnerable asylum seekers hurt by this 17/

Tweet number 8 from @CCTCommander and he seems to have missed the "people trying to seek safety" part of "small boats business model", caused in no small measure by a lack of other options. Again, he is focusing the idea of criminality on asylum seekers more than anyone else. 18/

Just a sidenote on a separate but related note. If I was @CCTCommander I wouldn't be making cracks about people "making a profit off migrants" while the @ukhomeoffice is charging an extortionate NHS surcharge, along with other charges such as visa fees etc, during a pandemic. 19/

Ninth tweet by @CCTCommander and we appear to be moving from disingenuous to disgusting. Officials using deaths of asylum seekers as an argument to limit ability of people to seek asylum, and place even more lives at risk, seems to be the norm though, no matter how sickening. 20/

Despite what some may think given the rhetoric of the @ukhomeoffice, or the PR stunt appointment of @CCTCommander we haven't seen any increase in asylum seekers on 2020, in fact there has been drop. This is all a manufactured "crisis". 21/

The thing is though that the number of applications has dropped in large part due to Covid restrictions, pushing more people into taking more dangerous routes to try and be able to seek asylum in a country they feel safe in. 22/

Using their deaths, as both @CCTCommander and the @ukhomeoffice, to push for closing more routes rather than opening safe ones, shows that they neither care about the safety of asylum seekers nor the reality of how their policies contribute to these deaths. 23/