The home secretary is expected to publish long-awaited legislation as early as Tuesday. But charities and human rights organizations have criticized the proposals, which reportedly include a ban on Channel migrants claiming asylum.
With new plans to restrict small boat crossings, the British government is “avoiding the asylum responsibilities it expects others to assume,” according to a human rights group.
Refugee charities have also described the plans as “costly and impractical”. And said they “promise nothing but more demonization and punishment” of asylum seekers.
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman will publish long-awaited legislation regarding individuals crossing the Channel in small boats.
A new Illegal Migration Bill proposes banning refuge claims for illegal immigrants.
Michelle Donelan, secretary of science, innovation, and technology, told. “The fundamental principle will be that if you enter the country illegally, it is not acceptable to remain.”
She added that many people arriving on small boats cross “many secure nations to get here. And if they’re here illegally, they shouldn’t be allowed to stay.”
Chris Heaton-Harris, said the law will ensure that illegal immigrants to the UK “are returned very swiftly” or to Rwanda.
Rishi Sunak has made preventing Channel migrant crossings one of his top five priorities in office. Promising to introduce new legislation to “ensure that illegal immigrants are detained and promptly removed.”
Several Conservative MPs welcomed the news that a new bill was imminent, but opposition parties criticized the plans, accusing the government of “recycling the same rhetoric and failure” and the Liberal Democrats of drafting “yet another half-baked plan.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive officer of the Refugee Council, stated that denying asylum to those crossing in small boats would “shatter the UK’s long-standing commitment under the UN Convention to give people a fair hearing regardless of the path they have taken to reach our shores” and “add more cost and chaos to the system.”
The government’s proposals, according to Steve Valdez-Symonds, director of the refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International UK, “promise nothing but more demonization and punishment of people fleeing conflict and persecution who dare to seek asylum in the United Kingdom by means the government has chosen to restrict them.
Sonia Sceats, CEO of Freedom from Torture, accused the government of “comprehensively shutting down” legal routes for refugees to enter the United Kingdom and stated that the legislation “would place a bomb” under the cardinal principle of refugee law, which states that those truly fearing for their lives should be able to enter a country by any means possible.
Mr. Sunak pledged on Sunday to end “immoral” illegal immigration.
In an interview with the Sunday Express, he stated, “Illegal immigration is unfair to British taxpayers. It’s unfair to legal immigrants and immoral to let criminal bands trade.”
According to a report in The Sunday Times, the Home Office has devised two plans to prevent people who arrive by small boat from claiming asylum: either removing the right to appeal against automatic exclusion from the asylum system or allowing them to appeal only after they have been deported.
A third plan would ban people from claiming their right to family life under the Human Rights Act.
The legislation could also impose an obligation on the home secretary to remove, to Rwanda or a “secure third country.” Anyone who arrives on a small boat “as soon as is practicable.”
Chris Heaton-Harris, a cabinet minister, stated that the new regulations would be “very black and white” and that “safe and legal routes are unquestionably the way forward.”
According to current evidence, such legislation may violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
No flights carrying refugees to Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, have yet left due to legal issues with the government’s prior Rwanda plan.
According to the most recent Home Office statistics, 2,950 migrants have already crossed the English Channel this year. While a record-breaking 45,756 migrants arrived in the United Kingdom in 2017.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary has been clear that if you arrive in the UK illegally. You should not be permitted to stay.
We will soon pass laws to detain and deport illegal immigrants from the UK.
“To combat the alarming increase in hazardous crossings of the English Channel, our collaboration with France is also crucial. Together, we are determined to confront this problem head-on to halt the boats.”
