UK home secy and her remarks on Indian migrants: Who is Suella Braverman?

Braverman's remarks on Indians overstaying in the UK have reportedly annoyed the officials in New Delhi and the India-UK FTA is on a verge of collapse

The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom (UK) is reportedly on the verge of collapse following the remarks made by UK home secretary Suella Braverman on Indian migrants making up the largest number of visa overstayers in the UK.

"I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit," Braverman had told the Spectator earlier in the month.

"Look at migration in this country, the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants," she added. Braverman further said that the agreement between the Indian and the UK government to facilitate better cooperation on migration has not "necessarily worked very well".

Ministers in New Delhi were shocked by the comments and the Diwali deadline for the FTA, set by former UK PM Boris Johnson, may not be met, as reported by PTI.

Who is Suella Braverman?

Born in Harrow, Greater London on April 3, 1980, Suella Braverman was christened Sue-Ellen Cassiana Fernandes. She was born to Christie and Uma Fernandes, both of Indian origin.

Christie had his roots in Goa, while Uma came from a Hindu Tamil Mauritian family. Both had migrated to the UK in the 1960s.

Braverman studied at the Heathfield School in London. Later, she studied law at Queens' College, Cambridge. She then completed a master's degree in European and French law at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

She was elected to the House of Commons as an MP from Fareham in 2015. She took her oath on "Dhammapada", a collection of teachings of Gautam Buddha. Braverman was then selected as a member of the Education Select Committee.

From January 2018 to November 2018, she was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union.

On September 6, she was appointed as the UK's Secretary of State for the Home Department. She was given the responsibility to handle policing and immigration.

She is considered to be a staunch supporter of Brexit and right-wing culture.

"I’m proud of the British Empire, I’m not going to apologise for our past history," she told The Telegraph’s Christopher Hope.