British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference following the launch of new legislation on migrant Channel Crossings on March 7, 2023. , Photo Credit: AP
the story So Far: Britain has a conservative government Proposal to adopt a new, tougher policy on dealing with asylum seekers Those who reach the island via boat. The government has taken this step to fulfill a promise made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January 2023 to “stop the boats”. This was one of the five major policy priorities that he had outlined at that time. Proposed plan to deport or remove boat asylum seekers arriving in the UK at their place of origin in a third country Sharply criticized by the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCRand by leader of the european union, They have argued that the new UK policy is inconsistent with international law, particularly 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of RefugeesAnd this European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). When illegal immigration bill (IMB) is yet to be passed by the UK Parliament, once it is done it will have retrospective applicability from March 7, 2023.
What is the political context of the bill?
As in other developed economies, the UK’s policies to regulate immigration, particularly undocumented workers and asylum seekers, have always been a sensitive political issue. With the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments fueled by some aspects of the Brexit campaign, which became a reality on January 31, 2020, the UK Conservative Party has been a strong advocate for stricter immigration policies. This is reportedly aimed at protecting UK jobs or focusing on skilled workers coming through legal routes. However, in recent years due to the pandemic and the economic crisis it has caused in developing countries, as well as the displacement of some communities in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, large numbers of asylum seekers are arriving on the shores. of the UK, prompts us to closely examine the policy response in this regard.
What measures does the Bill propose?
The bill, if passed into law by the UK Parliament, would require the Home Secretary to detain and remove those arriving in the UK illegally, either in Rwanda or another “safe” third country; would deprive migrants of their right to bail or judicial review for the first 28 days of their immigration detention; would only allow migrants who are minors, medically unfit to fly or at risk of serious harm in their country of removal to delay departure from the UK; and preventing such migrants from returning to the UK or obtaining British citizenship at a later date. The bill would also seek to set a limit on the number of refugees who would be allowed to settle in the UK through “safe and legal routes” – which at the moment only applies to people from Afghanistan and Ukraine or holders of British national status . Hong Kong. A relatively small number of refugees can also enter the UK through the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Community Sponsorship Scheme, Refugee Family Reunification and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.
What is the trend on refugee numbers?
Small boat arrivals in the English Channel are expected to reach 45,755 in 2022, the highest number since records began in 2018. So-called “small boat arrivals” comprised about 45% of the total asylum applications made in 2022, up to nearly 89,000, after falling from a previous record of 103,000 in 2002 to a new 20-year low of 22,600 in 2010. High. Albania, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria were the top countries from where asylum applications were received. , Last year, the UK government returned asylum decisions to 29,150 applicants, granting some form of protection to 17,747 people, which is 61% of the total number.
What were the first measures adopted by the UK for asylum seekers?
In December 2021 the UK Parliament passed the Nationality and Borders Bill to crack down on undocumented migration and refugee inflows, giving the government the right to remove asylum seekers to a “safe” third country for “offshore asylum processing” and It also set an early precedent for “pushing boats back to sea”.
Editorial | Stopping the boats: on Britain’s new ‘illegal migration law’
In April 2022, the UK and Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda who are not being considered by the UK in Rwanda, a move that the UNHCR criticized as “shortcomings in the asylum process”. citing arbitrary denials of access to asylum “processes for some, the risk of detention and deportation of undocumented asylum seekers, discriminatory access to asylum processes faced by LGBTIQ+ individuals, or legal representation lack of”. While UNHCR said the arrangement “does not meet the requirements necessary to be considered a legal and/or proper bilateral transfer arrangement”, Human Rights Watch documented suffering caused by Australia’s offshore detention sites in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. placed parallel to
Is the bill in line with human rights laws?
The UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, admitted in a letter to MPs that there was a “more than 50% chance” that the new bill was inconsistent with international law. This is most prominent in the concept of non-refoulement, a view enshrined in the Refugee Convention as well as the ECHR, of which the UK is a signatory, that refugees should not be returned to a country where they face a threat to life and liberty. , In this context, it is expected that the bill will be challenged in the courts and may fail on the grounds of inconsistency with human rights laws. However, the UK High Court recently ruled that the Rwandan deportation plan did not violate any human rights conventions.