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Migrants arriving in the UK on small boats or other illegal routes will be held indefinitely liable for removal, even if they are granted asylum under punitive proposals to be announced by Priti Patel.
In what the government is calling the “biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades,” the Home Secretary will announce on Wednesday that how people enter the UK will influence the progress of their asylum claim. and its status if that request is successful.
Experts criticized the creation of a “two-tier” system that ran the risk of punishing people “forced to take extraordinary measures.” [without] a choice about how they seek security ”.
Patel will undertake to do everything possible to expel those who enter the UK via routes considered illegal, having traveled through a safe country where “they could and should have applied for asylum”, within the framework of the “New Immigration Plan. “.
If removal is not possible, migrants who make successful claims after entering illegally will receive a new temporary protected status rather than an automatic right to compromise, and will be periodically reassessed for removal from the UK.
People who enter illegally will be punished further with limited rights to family reunification and limited access to benefits.
It was reported earlier this week that migrants arriving in the UK via a safe and legal resettlement route will, conversely, be granted an indefinite license to stay immediately upon arrival in the UK as planned.
Currently, resettled refugees are granted permission to stay in the UK for five years, after which they must again apply for an indefinite license to stay.
It was also reported that asylum seekers will be sent abroad while their applications are being processed, according to the proposals, although this was not mentioned in a press release issued before Wednesday’s announcement.
The proposals have been drawn up against the backdrop of a record number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK last year in small boats across the English Channel, with some political commentators suggesting that Boris Johnson was frustrated with the mishandling of the situation on Patel’s part.
However, official figures show that the total number of asylum applications received in the UK last year actually fell by almost a fifth as alternative means of travel such as trucks were affected by the pandemic.
Patel, who is expected to address the House of Commons on Wednesday, said: “I do not apologize that these actions are firm, but since they will also save lives and target human traffickers, they are also undeniably fair.”
For migrants whose application is denied, the government said it will reform appeals and the judicial process to speed up deportation. Other proposals, which are understood to be submitted for consultation, include:
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Reception centers for asylum seekers while their applications are being processed.
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Clarify the standard on what qualifies as a “well-founded fear of persecution” and make it more difficult for people to obtain refugee status based on unfounded claims.
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Strict age assessment processes, with a national age assessment board to prevent adult migrants from posing as children.
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Life sentences for human traffickers and increased sentences for foreign criminals returning to the UK in violation of a deportation order from six months to five years in prison.
The Home Office said it will expand the global reach of resettlement routes for refugees, channels facilitated by international organizations such as the UN Refugee Agency to provide safe and legal routes to the UK.
Enver Solomon, Executive Director of the Refugee Council, said: “The government is trying to differentiate unfairly between the deserving refugee and the undeserving refugee by choosing to provide protection to those fleeing war and terror based on how they travel to the Kingdom. United.
“The reality is that when faced with turmoil, ordinary people are forced to take extraordinary measures and cannot choose how to seek safety. The government is effectively creating a two-tier system in which some refugees are unfairly punished for the way they can get to the UK.
“This is totally unfair and undermines the UK’s long tradition of providing protection to people, regardless of how they have managed to reach our shores … All refugees deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity, and it is a stain on ‘Global Britain ‘subject some refugees to differential treatment. “
