New UK policy on Refugees

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• News Summary: New U.K. policy on refugees
• What is the political context for the Bill?
• Why U.K. is bringing the migration bill now?
• What measures does the Bill propose?
• What are the criticisms of this bill?

Why in News?

• The Conservative government of the U.K. is proposing to adopt a new, stricter policy to deal with asylum seekers who arrive on the island via boat.
• While the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) is yet to be passed by the U.K. Parliament, once that happens it will have retrospective applicability from March 7, 2023.

News Summary: New U.K. policy on refugees

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What is the political context for the Bill?

• Policies to regulate immigration, specifically of undocumented workers and asylum seekers, have always been a sensitive political issue in the U.K.
• With the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments fuelling some aspects of the Brexit campaign, the U.K. Conservative Party has been a strong advocate for tighter immigration policies.
  • Brexit became a reality on January 31, 2020.
• This is purportedly aimed at protecting U.K. jobs or shifting the focus to skilled workers arriving through legal routes.

Why U.K. is bringing the migration bill now?

• Recently, all major developed countries including U.K. has witnessed rise in numbers of asylum seekers. This is due to:
  • The recent years of the pandemic and the economic distress it has caused across developing countries;
  • The displacement of certain communities in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq;
  • Displacement caused by Russia – Ukraine war.
• Also, this step was taken to fulfil a promise made in January 2023 by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to “stop the boats”.
  • The so-called small boat arrivals comprised approximately 45% of the total asylum applications made in 2022, which was close to 89,000.

What measures does the Bill propose?

• The Bill, when passed into law by the U.K. Parliament, will: 
  • require that the Home Secretary detain and remove those arriving in the U.K. illegally, either to Rwanda or another “safe” third country;
  • would deny migrants the right to bail or judicial review for the first 28 days of their immigration detention; 
  • block such migrants from returning to the U.K. or seeking British citizenship going forward.
• The Bill would also seek to set a cap on the number of refugees who will be permitted to settle in the U.K. through “safe and legal routes”.
  • This, at the moment, only applies to people from Afghanistan and Ukraine, or British National status holders in Hong Kong. 

What are the criticisms of this bill?

• Incompatible with international law
  • Recently, the U.K.’s Home Secretary admitted that there was a more than 50% chance that the new bill is incompatible with international law.
  • This is more evident in the concept of non-refoulement – that refugees should not be returned to a country where they face threats to life and liberty.
    • This concept is encapsulated in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as well as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
    • U.K. is a signatory of both the conventions.
• Criticised by UNHCR
  • The proposed plan to deport to origin or remove asylum seekers arriving in the U.K. by boat to a third country has been sharply criticised by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
• Extinguishes the right to seek refugee protection in the UK
  • If adopted, the new bill would deny the right to seek refugee protection to people arriving irregularly in the UK, such as those risking their lives to cross the English Channel in small boats.
  • The effect of this Bill (in this form) would be to deny a fair hearing and to deny protection to many genuine refugees in need of safety and asylum.

Q1) What is UNHCR?

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency that is responsible for protecting and assisting refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other people who are forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, or other reasons.

Q2) What is English Channel?

The English Channel is a body of water that separates southern England from northern France and connects the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea. It is approximately 560 km (350 miles) long, and at its narrowest point, the Strait of Dover, it is just 34 km (21 miles) wide.

Source: Explained | What is the new U.K. policy on refugees? | UNHCR | United Nations