Why we must oppose the ‘Illegal’ Migration Bill

Pal Luthra of Amnesty International Hastings & Rye argues that the immigration bill currently before Parliament represents a denial of asylum-seekers’ human rights and an abandonment of the UK’s international obligations towards them.

The UK government’s latest immigration bill is a heartless and cruel attack on people needing safety. It is an admission of failure by the government, that the Nationality & Borders Act, which came into force on 28 April 2022, is not fit for their stated purpose of minimising spontaneous small boat arrivals.  The bill is due to reach its second reading in the House of Commons on 25 April.

If passed, the bill will not only give the Home Secretary unfettered powers to expel virtually everyone who arrives or enters the UK without permission, but will place a legal obligation upon her or him to do so. It would almost entirely shut down the UK’s asylum system by blocking asylum seekers from making claims of asylum in the UK. It will effectively outlaw asylum in this country. 

The arbitrary requirement to expel also includes a permanent bar on the person ever being recognised to have any claim to enter or stay in or return to the UK. It does not matter how strong their connection to the country may be, or how devastating their exclusion from it. To enable the mass expulsion of people under this bill, several legal protections against the misuse of Home Office powers are to be removed.

The bill will prohibit the Home Office from being able to consider the circumstances of anyone claiming asylum after unauthorised entry into the UK, regardless of whether they face execution, public flogging or have been victims of torture or escaping the ravages of civil wars.  Any claims based on human rights violations will only be considered after expulsion from the UK;  but in reality, it will be impossible for affected individuals to seek asylum in the UK.

The bill will prevent victims of human trafficking or modern slavery from applying for protection in the UK. It will place the most vulnerable and marginalised people directly into the hands of human traffickers, modern-day slavers and other abusers.

Retrospective

The bill will apply, retrospectively, to people arriving in the UK on or after 7 March 2023 (the day the bill was published), and not only will anyone caught by it would be permanently barred from the UK, but also their partners and children, who will face the same fate, regardless of whether they arrived without permission – even if they were born here. This would mean that many British children would be robbed of their rights to British citizenship.

The Home Secretary would have power under this bill to detain adults and children for up to 28 days, with no possibility of bail or judicial review. Under the new powers given by this bill, courts will be prevented from considering the decisions and actions of the Home Office. The bill would thus give the Home Secretary and the Home Office unchecked and draconian powers.

The government’s stated aim is to stop people from crossing the Channel in small boats. However, the bill goes far beyond this. Any person who arrives at or enters the UK on or after 7 March 2023 by any route, including a student or tourist visa, but who is deemed by the Border Force or Home Office to have obtained the visa by deception with their true purpose being to seek asylum, could be expelled. The Border Force or Home Office would have the power to remove them without any consideration of their circumstance. They would not have any opportunity to have their claim to stay in the UK considered.

Furthermore, everyone affected would be detained indefinitely until expelled, either to their own country or to a “safe third country” if the former is not possible. If that expulsion is not possible, they are to remain in limbo forever. While the financial costs of maintaining this situation will persist and increase, the human costs inflicted upon people trapped in this limbo are impossible to imagine. The sole exception is the refugee who travels directly from the country in which they are at risk of persecution.

The bill is cruel, inhumane and unworkable. It is in direct conflict with Human Rights Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on Refugees 1951. It is yet another huge step towards the UK completely abandoning its responsibilities under international law to respect and protect the universality of human rights.

Incompatible with existing law

The Home Secretary herself has even been forced to accept that the Government is unable to declare the bill to be compatible with our human rights laws. Indeed, the bill is designed to circumvent these protections. If implemented, it could rapidly come into conflict with the European Court of Human Rights.

Lastly,  the messages that the bill sends, together with the inflammatory rhetoric and lies that accompany it, risk inciting racially motivated violence towards refugees, and migrant and ethnic communities in the UK, and encourages right-wing extremists and racist organisations. This is already happening, as illustrated by the recent far-right violence outside a hotel in Merseyside accommodating asylum-seekers and recently in Bexhill in a protest against the proposals to use the Northeye barracks as accommodation for asylum-seekers, where some strongly racist rhetoric was witnessed

Our immigration and asylum system is broken, due to the government’s asylum policies and mismanagement of the Home Office, with a massive backlog of asylum cases waiting to be processed, with people waiting for three or four, or even 10, years for a decision.

We, in Amnesty International Hastings & Rye, believe that the focus should be on creating an asylum system that works, based on human rights and the UK’s international obligations, and which treats asylum-seekers as human beings, respecting their humanity and dignity. We believe that the Government should create safe, legal routes for people to seek asylum.

Please write to our MP Sally Ann Hart, asking her to raise your concerns directly with the Prime Minister. You can find a template letter on our FB page.

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