Entertainment
GB News’s Nana Akua branded ‘vile’ for saying migrants on boats shouldn’t be rescued by Border Force on Jeremy Vine
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Jeremy Vine’s show on Channel 5 has been blasted as ‘vile’ after contributor Nana Akua supported the idea that border patrol shouldn’t be prosecuted for not saving drowning refugees.
On Friday’s edition of the panel show, GB News host Akua appeared alongside Vine and writer Jemma Forte and discussed Border Force staff potentially being given immunity from prosecution should migrants drown while crossing the Channel.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is trying to introduce a clause to the Nationality and Borders Bill that could give officers legal protection.
The Bill, which is currently being read by Parliament, would make it a criminal offence to arrive in the UK as an asylum seeker without prior permission.
Akua said that it was ‘fair enough’ to know that you won’t be rescued if your boat sinks.
She said: ‘If people have come across from the Channel, from France, which is safe, why they would want to take a dangerous border crossing and then have to be rescued… Basically, what often happens is they throw themselves overboard so they then have to do a rescue mission, which is part of maritime law.
‘I personally think… look, as long as you know that if you come across you won’t be rescued if your boat sinks, I think that’s fair enough, and that’s why they’re saying if they come across with jet skis, then they can’t rescue them, it will actually hopefully stop the people trafficking, because if you are supporting that they should be rescued, you’re actually supporting people trafficking which means that more people will come across because they think they’ll be ok.’
Akua said that refugees ‘shouldn’t get on the boat’ (Picture: Channel 5)
Forte replied: ‘I think it’s one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard in my life.’
The author pointed out the clause was a breach of international law, calling it ‘state sponsored manslaughter’.
She said: ‘To dehumanise these human beings who are coming over… why do they do it? Because they’re desperate, they’ve come from war-torn countries, they are fleeing places like Syria…’
Akua interjected that they were ‘coming from France’, with Forte adding that some of the refugees have been in camps in Calais for years waiting to be processed.
Vine said: ‘We still have a situation where our paid officials will be on a boat, and they’ll look at a father jump off a dinghy with a child’, with Akua interrupting to say: ‘But why would he jump off a dinghy? He shouldn’t do that.’
When Forte pointed out that they could also fall out of the boat, or that the boat could sink, Akua repeated: ‘Don’t go on the boat.’
Akua continued to argue that more lives would be saved by deterring migrants from making the journey, but when Vine said that a border official might not be able to watch a child drowning in front of them, she replied: ‘You’re not a murderer. If somebody’s just jumped into the water so that you rescue them and you’re on a jet ski, you’re not a murderer, you do not have the facility to pick them up in the first instance.’
The debate has caused controversy on social media, with many calling Akua’s argument ‘inhumane’.
Gary Lineker shared the clip and wrote: ‘Find it hard to imagine how anyone could show such an extraordinary lack of empathy for our fellow human beings. Vile.’
One viewer tweeted: ‘Disgusting lack of empathy for your fellow human beings @NanaAkua1’, while another tweet read: ‘Beyond shameless – advocating to let people drown on national TV.’
Professor Julia Steinberger wrote: ‘My father was once a child refugee on a boat, fleeing persecution and genocide, @Nanaakua1. Glad to know you believe he should have drowned in order to “deter” migration.’
This is just the latest in a string of controversies for Jeremy Vine; last month, the morning show was hit with complaints after a comment contributor Mike Parry made about ‘minorities’.
Last month the Home Office said it was training Border Force guards to push back small boats carrying migrants, potentially using jet-skis which French authorities have said would breach international law.
More: Priti Patel
The possible clause Patel is trying to introduce will protect staff from being liable if migrants die as a result of these tactics.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘As part of our ongoing response to these dangerous crossings, we continue to evaluate and test a range of safe and legal options for stopping small boats.
‘All operational procedures used at sea comply and are delivered in accordance with domestic and international law.
‘We will fix the broken asylum system through our new plan for immigration, break the business model of people smugglers who put lives at risk and welcome people through safe and legal route.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Channel 5 for comment.
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