A new rule will be drafted, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to stop illegal immigration to the UK via small boats. The rule will force the English Channel migrants to leave the UK, bar them from entering in the future, and prevent them from applying for British citizenship.
As per the law, anyone arriving in a small boat on UK shores will be subjected to the plethora of planned regulations.
According to the Refugee Council, a UK based organization which works with refugees and asylum seekers, thousands of people will be “permanently in limbo” as a consequence of the plans, which have drawn criticism.
“Make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not be allowed to stay,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Mail, a British daily, on Sunday, listing “stopping the boats” as one of his top priorities. Sunak declared that people who arrive in small vessels won’t be permitted to remain in the nation. The increase in the number of asylum applicants making the perilous journey from France to the UK has long been a concern of the government.
According to the new legislation, the home secretary would be required to forever send anyone coming on a small boat to another “safe” third country “as soon as reasonably practicable” and prohibit their re-entry forever.
Currently, the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN’s Refugee Convention both grant those seeking refuge in the UK the right to do so. The Illegal Migration Bill is expected to implement a “rights brake,” according to the Mail on Sunday, making it possible to effectively ignore the conventions.
Although an agreement was reached last year, no migrants have yet been sent to Rwanda, and any plans to do so are presently on hold. Additionally, there is no return policy in force with the EU.
The Rwanda plan has not yet been implemented because it was met with vehement campaigner resistance and legal interventions.
The Supreme Court, however, decided in December that the plan did not violate the UN Refugee Convention. A preliminary hearing at the Court of Appeal is scheduled for Monday. That ruling is still being contested in the courts.
According to the Refugee Council, ministers have broken the UK’s long-standing promise to the UN Convention to grant people a fair hearing no matter how they enter the country.
There are several “safe and legal” ways to enter the UK, according to the Home Office, PM’s ministerial department responsible for immigration, security, and law and order. Some, however, are only accessible to citizens of certain nations, such as those from Afghanistan and Ukraine, or to Hong Kong residents who have British National status. Other asylum options only accept a specific number of refugees who meet specific requirements.
The upcoming government measures, according to UK’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, are “just the latest in a long line for unworkable gimmicks”.
He said, instead the government should make sure that asylum seekers have secure entry points into the nation, expedite the processing of asylum requests, and take action against trafficking groups.
Talking to BBC, he said, “We’ve put forward our own proposals – taking the hundreds of millions of pounds that would be wasted on the Rwanda scheme, put it into the National Crime Agency so that we can start rounding up and arresting the criminal gangs that are trafficking people.”
