The British government has long been criticized for its immigration policy. Your current plans are still sharper. Anyone entering the country illegally forfeits the right to asylum. Anyone who is deported is not allowed to re-enter the country. However, its legality is disputed.
The British government has presented radical plans for stricter asylum law. The project will "regain control of our borders once and for all," said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - that was a promise made by Brexit supporters before leaving the European Union. At the same time, Interior Secretary Suella Braverman acknowledged that the plans would stretch international law.
The draft law prohibits migrants who have entered the country illegally from applying for asylum. Anyone who is deported is therefore not allowed to re-enter the United Kingdom or ever apply for British citizenship. "This new law will send a clear signal that anyone entering this country illegally will be deported quickly," Sunak wrote in The Sun newspaper.
The plans also aim to make it easier to detain migrants pending their deportation to a third country deemed safe. The possibility of appealing against a deportation is restricted.
"The Prime Minister and I have worked tirelessly to ensure we have a working law - we have stretched the boundaries of international law to resolve this crisis," Braverman wrote in an article in the Telegraph newspaper.
Speaking to the House of Commons, Braverman conceded that she could not make a "final" statement on whether her bill respected UK human rights law. She announced that Britain had initiated talks with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). She was "confident that the proposed law is compatible with international law".
Human rights groups and the opposition call the project "unfeasible" and accuse the government of making vulnerable refugees into scapegoats. "We are wondering how you can apply for asylum in the UK if you are fleeing persecution or war, if you are fleeing Afghanistan or Syria and fear for your life?" Christina Marriott of the British Red Cross told Sky News.
The British government has been under political pressure for months due to a record number of migrants arriving via the English Channel. Last year alone, almost 45,000 migrants crossed the English Channel from France to England illegally - compared to almost 30,000 in 2021.
For years, London has been trying to prevent illegal and often dangerous entry via the English Channel. Under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain had signed a controversial deal with East African Rwanda to fly asylum seekers there. This should discourage people from making the English Channel crossing.
The implementation of the agreement with Rwanda had failed so far. A flight with migrants to the East African country planned for June 2022 was canceled at short notice after a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. In December, the London High Court ruled that the deportations to Rwanda were legal - but the project is still the subject of appeals.
