Frances Webber is a Fellow of the Institute of Race Relations and a retired human rights advocate.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) believes that Britain’s “Illegal Migration Bill”, which will now be discussed in the House of Lords after its passage in the House of Commons, could have a “domino effect” among anti-refugee countries “bring down the international refugee protection system“.
Already the governments of Denmark and New Zealand are imitating British asylum policies, which in turn are copying Australia’s notorious “offshoring,” the resettlement of refugees.
That’s in the bill
No right to privacy or humane treatment
Asylum-seeking children must undergo “scientific” x-rays to determine bone age, or are treated as adults. The new law also legalizes the previously illegal confiscation of phones. In short: Asylum seekers have no right to privacy.
They are no longer entitled to humane treatment. New laws were passed last year following court rulings that declared the conditions of detention for asylum seekers unlawful. These allow for longer “short-term” incarceration.
At the same time, standards for health care, legal advice, communication and sleeping facilities have been drastically lowered, and the obligation to screen asylum-seekers for signs of torture and illness has been lifted.
In addition, the conservative government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is changing other planning and housing laws.
Housing asylum seekers in dangerous and unsanitary conditions in barracks or tent cities is thus legalized.
It could bring down the international refugee protection system.
Filippo GrandiUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Studies have repeatedly shown that suicide, self-harm and neglect increase under such conditions. In April, more than 830 health professionals and medical institutions warned of the “catastrophic mental and physical damage” of the new rules.
Despite harsh criticism, the government is making few corrections to the planned law. Only the detention and deportation of unaccompanied children have been subsequently restricted, and information about legal and safe escape routes is to be provided six months after it has come into force.
The law itself is unlawful and the culmination of decades of defiance of the international human rights framework.
Frances Weber, former human rights lawyer
Refugee organizations have repeatedly complained that there are practically no safe or legal routes for refugees who do not come from Ukraine or Hong Kong.
Three quarters of all asylum decisions made in the past year were positive. Afghans, Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians and many Albanian victims of human trafficking came into the country, their need for protection is obvious in view of the positive asylum decisions. The government is trying with its “Stop the Boats” campaign to prevent precisely these people from entering the country.
Violation of the Geneva Refugee Convention
The government, on the other hand, does not mention Great Britain’s role in the causes of flight: military adventures, arms trafficking with regimes that violate human rights, the destruction of the environment and livelihoods.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in favor of curbing the English Channel crossing as part of the Illegal Migration Act and backing the STOP THE BOATS campaign.
The “illegal” in the title refers to refugees and migrants who enter “in violation of immigration regulations”, i.e. without a visa. But that wasn’t forbidden for a long time. It was only made a criminal offense last year with the Citizenship and Borders Act. But that alone is a violation of the Geneva Refugee Convention, which prohibits the punishment of refugees arriving irregularly.
The new asylum law also shows how extreme the government’s attitude has become in just one year. While last year’s migration law still allowed the “resettlement” of asylum seekers, the upcoming “law on illegal migration” explicitly requires it.
The current reform is therefore not only illegal, but also the culmination of decades of resistance to the principles of the United Nations human rights framework. This undermines the rule of law and violates international obligations.
All major concerns ignored
But all warnings from the British human rights authorities, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Foreign Secretary, former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Theresa May and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights are ignored in Westminister.
However, the draft law is hardly feasible anyway. It will create an enormous new administrative burden for demoralized, unqualified and underqualified personnel. Even before the law was introduced, the speed with which asylum applications are decided has led to an enormous backlog of applications. Applicants must therefore wait up to five years for a decision.
Above all, the law – despite all the deterrent maneuvers – will not “stop the boat”. We know that from past years. It will only make the journey more expensive and dangerous.
But why all this? It is, in the end, governing through spectacle. Downing Street wants to win the upcoming election – and hopes to be able to do so in this way.
