The UK government has proposed a controversial new law that would allow authorities to deport people who arrive on its shores in small boats via the English Channel that divides the island of France.
Several charities and human rights groups have criticized the plan, known as the Illegal Migration Bill – saying it criminalizes the efforts of thousands of genuine refugees.
This week’s announcement comes after the UK’s Conservative government made stopping ship arrivals a top priority. Last year the government made it a crime offense for people to come to the UK without a visa or special permission.
More than 45,000 people entered across the canal in 2022, according to government figures, a jump of more than 17,000 from the previous year’s record.
This year nearly 3,000 people have made the perilous crossing that ranges in width from 240 km (150 miles) at its widest to 34 km (21 miles) at its narrowest.
At a summit in Paris last Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a deal to stop migration across the canal, with London saying it will give France $576 million over the next three years to help stop the ships.
‘Cruel new bill’
Anyone arriving on UK shores illegally after having passed through a ‘safe’ country will need to be legally removed. Under the proposed law, more than 20 countries are considered “safe” for refugees to be deported.
“Whether these countries accept returned refugees is another matter. To my knowledge, there is no agreement or arrangement with any of the mentioned countries. There will also be legal challenges in UK courts,” Abdirashid Mohamed, a lawyer at Aden and Co Solicitors, told Al Jazeera.
According to Mohamed, the bill rules out the possibility that many new arrivals will apply for asylum simply because they have reached British shores by “irregular means”, on boats.
If the bill passes, the Home Secretary will have the power to detain and expel those who arrive by boat in their country of origin or in a safe third country, such as Rwanda.
The law will also allow authorities to detain new arrivals without bail or judicial review for up to 28 days. Those under 18 years of age, people who are not considered medically fit to fly or those who are at real risk of suffering serious and irreversible damage in their country of origin will be exempt.
Even in these cases, people will have a maximum of 45 days to stay in the UK before their appeal is exhausted. The authorities could then remove them.
“At the moment, the bill does not close the door on asylum-seeking children. Without doubt, if the UK government attempts to remove unaccompanied children in the future, such removal will face challenges in UK courts,” Mohamed said.
The new bill will set an annual limit, set by politicians, on the total number of refugees and immigrants the UK will settle.
“This government has spent the last few years destroying Britain’s reputation for providing refuge, breaking international law and demonizing refugees. This cruel new bill is an extreme step in the same failed approach,” Beth Gardiner-Smith, chief executive of Safe Passage, a charity that provides legal aid to refugees and asylum seekers, told Al Jazeera.
“We have seen, even over the last year, that making life difficult for refugees and focusing on deterrents does not work.”
‘draconian nature’
The Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, was unable to guarantee Parliament that the law is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
“Of course, the UK will always seek to uphold international law and I am confident that this bill is compatible with international law,” he told parliament.
Last year the British government reached an agreement to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda, more than 6,400 km (4,000 miles) away.
But at the last minute mandate of the European Court of Human Rights, the first deportation flight was blocked. The High Court in London then ruled legal in December.
Legal experts said the bill would face many hurdles in UK and European courts if it passes.
Due to its draconian nature, it is arguable that the bill is not compatible with international law and, in particular, is not compatible with refugee law under the 1951 UN convention in which the UK is one of the founding members and also the European Convention on Human Rights which the UK is also a signatory to,” Mohamed said.
Gardiner-Smith agreed.
“We have grave concerns that this bill violates international refugee and human rights law. No doubt the proposals within this bill will be challenged in court,” he said. “We have seen Rwanda’s terrible plan come under legal challenge over the last year, and that battle is still going on. Yet this government is trying to bring in more of the same ridiculous proposals.”
‘Fleeing from war’
Speaking to Al Jazeera by phone from London, Abdulmalik, 23, an Iraqi national who crossed the channel in December with 10 other people, said he was not surprised by the proposed law.
“They do not care. They don’t want to help the poor who are fleeing the war. It’s very sad when you see how they talk about us. But we have no choice. We will keep coming. Where else can we go? she said, asking that his last name not be used.
“If you stay in your country, you will die. So it is better to risk everything and cross to England even if you may die on the way. I was with Eritreans, Syrians, Afghans. We are all fleeing from the war. None of us would have taken the ship if we had other ways of getting to England.”
United Nations refugee agency saying He is “deeply concerned.”
“The legislation, if passed, would amount to an asylum ban, extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the UK for those who arrive irregularly, no matter how genuine and convincing their claim may be, and regardless of their circumstances. individual. ”, He said in a statement.
“Most people fleeing war and persecution simply cannot access the required passports and visas. There are no safe, ‘legal’ routes available to them. Denying them access to asylum on this basis undermines the very purpose for which the Refugee Convention was established.”
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