Tag: Migration bill

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UN slams UK govt’s Illegal Migration Bill

The cessation of the stand-off between the unelected chamber and MPs paves the way for the Bill to receive royal assent  and become law…reports Asian Lite News

The United Nations has denounced the UK government’s Illegal Migration Bill, which recently passed through Parliament. Additionally, the plans for increasing the number of vessels to accommodate asylum seekers have encountered obstacles.

On Tuesday, the UN issued a highly critical statement stating that the legislation, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak considers crucial to his commitment of “stopping the boats” crossing the Channel, violates the UK’s international legal obligations.

It came as the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge was met by protesters as it arrived into Dorset’s Portland Port, while two further cruise ships set to house migrants have reportedly been unable to find a berth.

The Bibby barge’s arrival came after a night of drama in which the Tory frontbench saw off changes being sought by peers to the Illegal Migration Bill, including modern slavery protections and child detention limits.

The cessation of the stand-off between the unelected chamber and MPs paves the way for the Bill to receive royal assent  and become law.

The reforms will prevent people from claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means.

The Government also hopes the changes will ensure detained people are promptly removed, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda, which is currently the subject of a legal challenge.

The Bill encountered fierce opposition in the upper chamber, while UN human rights chief Volker Turk and UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi led national and international outrage at the plans.

This new legislation significantly erodes the legal framework that has protected so many, exposing refugees to grave risks in breach of international law

In a joint statement, they warned the Bill “will have profound consequences for people in need of international protection”.

“This new legislation significantly erodes the legal framework that has protected so many, exposing refugees to grave risks in breach of international law,” Grandi said.

Turk said: “Carrying out removals under these circumstances is contrary to prohibitions of refoulement and collective expulsions, rights to due process, to family and private life, and the principle of best interests of children concerned.”

They said the legislation will expose people to the danger of “detention and destitution” and put at risk “their rights to health, an adequate standard of living, and to work”.

Downing Street defended the Bill, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying: “We are confident we are acting within international law.”

The Government’s plans to use further vessels, alongside the Bibby Stockholm, to accommodate migrants are in trouble as two giant cruise ships were turned down by two prospective berthing sites, according to Sky News.

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UK lawmakers flag illegal Migration Bill

The parliamentary committee questioned whether the law would act as a deterrent and said it “could lead to people taking other, potentially more dangerous, routes into the UK.”…reports Asian Lite News

A committee of British lawmakers said Sunday that the UK will break its international human rights commitments if it goes through with government plans to detain and deport people who cross the English Channel in small boats.

Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights said the Illegal Migration Bill “breaches a number of the UK’s international human rights obligations and risks breaching others.”

Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the law would leave most refugees and victims of modern slavery with no way of seeking asylum in Britain.

“By treating victims of modern slavery as illegal migrants’ subject to detention and removal, this bill would breach our legal obligations to such victims and would risk increasing trafficking of vulnerable people,” she said.

The committee urged the government to make sweeping amendments to the bill, including exempting trafficking victims and curbing the government’s power to detain people indefinitely. The government, which had pledged to “stop the boats,” is unlikely to heed the recommendations.

The legislation bars asylum claims by anyone who reaches the UK by unauthorised means, and compels officials to detain and then deport refugees and migrants “to their home country or a safe third country,” such as Rwanda. Once deported, they would be banned from ever re-entering the UK.

Britain’s Conservative government says the law will deter tens of thousands of people from making perilous journeys across the Channel and break the business model of the criminal gangs behind the trips. Critics, including the United Nations’ refugee agency, have described the legislation as unethical and unworkable.

The parliamentary committee questioned whether the law would act as a deterrent and said it “could lead to people taking other, potentially more dangerous, routes into the UK.”

The bill has been approved by the House of Commons, where the governing Conservatives have a majority, but is facing opposition in Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords. The Lords can amend the legislation but not block it.

More than 45,000 people, including many fleeing countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, arrived in Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.

The government has housed many of those awaiting asylum decisions in hotels, which officials say costs taxpayers millions of pounds (dollars) a day. Authorities have said they plan to place new arrivals in disused military camps and a barge docked on the southern English coast.

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Migration bill cruel, Sadiq Khan tells Braverman

Of those arriving illegally via small boats, Indians form a sizable chunk with the country recently witnessing a spike in their numbers…reprorts Asian Lite News

Calling the Illegal Migration Bill “cruel” and “unworkable”, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the UK’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman that more than 50,000 people will be at risk of homelessness in the British capital if it becomes a law.

In a letter to the Indian-origin Home Secretary, Khan said the bill “would do significant damage to vulnerable people seeking sanctuary and put already-stretched services in London on crisis footing”, the Evening Standard reported.

Proposals under the Illegal Migration Bill, introduced in Parliament this year, would stop people entering the country in unauthorised boats across the English Channel.

In addition, they will be detained and then promptly removed — either to their home country or to a safe third country.

While Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sought to frame the bill as a move to stop traffickers from taking advantage of prospective immigrants, the Mayor warned that it could “end up handing power to human traffickers, undermine crucial child protections, and leave people in immigration limbo, rather than have their requests for sanctuary heard”.

“It is clear that the current asylum system is broken and this bill will serve only to deepen the challenge, which could result in 50,000 people over the next three years left in London, unable to access support, work or legitimate avenues to fend for themselves,” Khan wrote to Braverman.

Of those arriving illegally via small boats, Indians form a sizable chunk with the country recently witnessing a spike in their numbers.

The Home Office data showed that 683 Indians arrived in the UK on small boats in 2022, as compared to 67 in 2021.

The majority of “irregular arrivals” from India were men in between the ages of 25 and 40, out of a total of 45,755 in 2022, which included Albanian, Afghan, Syrian and Iraqi nationals.

According to an assessment by UK-based charity Refugee Council of the consequences of the first three years of implementation of the Illegal Migration Bill, over 190,000 people could be locked up or forced into destitution under the government’s new crackdown on desperate people seeking safety and sanctuary.

As many as 45,000 children could be locked up in the UK, after having their asylum claims deemed inadmissible, and around 9 billion pounds will be spent over three years on locking up refugees in detention centres and accommodating people who can’t be removed to other countries.

While provisions in the bill say that people who arrive illegally will be detained for 28 days before they are deported, Braverman had said there will be a few exceptions for children, people who are medically unfit to fly, or those who are at risk.

Once deported, the individuals will be banned from returning to the UK or applying for British citizenship in the future.

The Refugee Council said there is little to no evidence to suggest this new plan will be an effective deterrent to people crossing the Channel in small boats.

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