Government cracks down on illegal migration to stop the boats
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Legal duty on Home Secretary to remove anyone who enters the UK
illegally Those arriving illegally will not be able to claim asylum
in the UK, but only in a safe third country such as Rwanda They
will be disqualified from using the UK’s modern slavery laws to
prevent removal Any other legal challenges or human rights claims
will be heard overseas, after removal Lifetime ban on settlement,
citizenship and re-entry to the UK for those removed under
the...Request free trial
Earlier this year the Prime Minister made stopping the boats one
of his five promises to the British people. The ‘Stop the Boats’
– or Illegal Migration - Bill will fulfil that promise by ending
illegal entry as a route to asylum in the UK. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “The British people rightly expect us to solve this crisis and that’s what the Prime Minister and I fully intend to do. We must stop the boats. “It is completely unfair that people who travel through a string of safe countries then come to the UK illegally and abuse our asylum laws to avoid removal. “It has to stop. By bringing in new laws, I am making it absolutely clear that the only route to the UK is a safe and legal route. If you come here illegally, you won’t be able to claim asylum or build a life here. “You will not be allowed to stay. You will be returned home if safe, or to a safe third country like Rwanda. It’s the only way to prevent people risking their lives and paying criminals thousands of pounds to get here.” The Bill, introduced to Parliament today (7 March 2023), will mean anyone who enters the UK illegally and who has passed through a safe country will be legally required to be removed and the Home Secretary will have the power to enforce it. Migrants may be detained for 28 days with no recourse for bail or judicial review, and then for as long as there is a reasonable prospect of removal. In exceptional circumstances if there is a risk that someone would suffer a real risk of serious and irreversible harm when they are relocated to that specific safe third country, they would not be removed until it was safe to do so. Even in these cases you will have a maximum 45 days to remain in the UK before your appeal is exhausted. The annual number settled via safe and legal routes will be kept under review, and if there is a humanitarian crisis within the world that requires a response, then the UK will step up and offer sanctuary to those in need, as we have done for tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Afghans. The Bill forms part of the action the Government is taking to stop small boat crossings and illegal migration as a whole. This includes:
Summary of Bill measures:
ENDS Notes to Editors
**** Illegal Migration Bill - Oral Statement With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill. Two months ago, the Prime Minister made a promise to the British people. He said anyone entering this country illegally, will be detained and swiftly removed. No half measures. The Illegal Migration Bill will fulfil that promise. It will allow us to stop the boats that are bringing tens of thousands to our shores in flagrant breach of both our laws and the will of the British people. The United Kingdom must always support the world’s most vulnerable. Since 2015 we’ve given sanctuary to nearly half a million people through family resettlement and global safe and legal routes. These include 150,000 people from Hong Kong escaping autocracy, 160,000 Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s war, and 25,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban. Indeed my own parents did, decades ago found security and opportunity in this country, something for which my family is eternally grateful. Crucially, these are decisions supported by the British people precisely because they were decisions made by the British people, through their elected representatives - not by the people smugglers and other criminals breaking into Britain daily. The small boats problem is part of a larger global migration crisis. In the coming years, developed countries will face unprecedented pressures levels from ever greater numbers of people leaving the developing world for places like the UK. Unless we act today, the problem will be worse tomorrow. And the problem is already unsustainable. People are dying in the Channel. The volume of illegal arrivals has overwhelmed our asylum system. The backlog has ballooned to over 160,000. The asylum system now costs the British taxpayer £3bn a year. Since 2018, some 85,000 people illegally entered the UK by small boat - 45,000 of them in 2022 alone. All travelled through multiple safe countries in which they could and should have claimed asylum. Many came from safe countries, like Albania. Almost all passed through France. The vast majority – 74% in 2021 – were adult males under the age of 40, rich enough to pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds for passage.
Upon arrival, most are accommodated in hotels across the country,
costing the British taxpayer around £6m a day. And when we try to remove them, they turn our generous asylum laws against us to prevent removal. The need for reform is obvious and is urgent. This Government has not sat on its hands, Mr. Speaker. Since this the Prime Minister took office, recognising the necessity of joint solutions with France, we’ve signed a new deal providing more technology and embedding British officers with French patrols. I hope Friday’s Anglo-French summit will further deepen that cooperation. We’ve created a new Small Boats Operational Command with over 700 new staff; we’ve doubled NCA funding to tackle smuggling gangs; increased enforcement raids by 50%; signed a deal with Albania which has already enabled the return of hundreds of illegal arrivals; And are procuring accommodation, including on military land, to end the farce of accommodating migrants in hotels. But, let’s be honest: it’s still not enough. In the face of today’s global migration crisis, yesterday’s laws are simply not fit for purpose. So to anyone proposing de facto open borders through unlimited safe and legal routes as the alternative, let’s be honest: By some counts there are 100 million people around the world who could qualify for protection under our current laws. And let’s be clear: They are coming here. We’ve seen a 500% increase in small boat crossings in two years. And this, Mr Speaker, is the crucial point of this Bill. They will not stop coming here until the world knows, if you enter Britain illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed. Removed back to your country if it’s safe, or to a safe third country like Rwanda. That is precisely what this Bill will do. That is how we will stop the Boats. Mr. Speaker, this Bill enables detention of illegal arrivals, without bail or judicial review within the first 28 days of detention, until they can be removed. It puts a duty on the Home Secretary to remove illegal entrants and will radically narrow the number of challenges and appeals that can suspend removal. Only those under 18, medically unfit to fly, or at real risk of serious and irreversible harm – an exceedingly high bar - in the country we are removing them to, will be able to delay their removal. Any other claims will be heard remotely, after removal. When our Modern Slavery Act passed, the impact assessment envisaged 3,500 referrals a year. Last year, 17,000 referrals took on average 543 days to consider. Modern Slavery laws are being abused to block removals. They’re why we granted more than 50% of asylum requests from citizens of a safe European country and NATO ally, Albania. That’s why this Bill disqualifies illegal entrants from using Modern Slavery rules to prevent removal. Mr. Speaker, I won’t address the Bill’s full legal complexities today. Some of the nation’s finest legal minds have been – and continue to be - involved in its development. But I must say this, the Rule 39 process that enabled the Strasbourg court to block at the last minute, flights to Rwanda, after our courts had refused injunctions, was deeply flawed. Our ability to control our borders cannot be held back by an opaque process, conducted late at night, with no chance to make our case or even appeal decisions. That’s why we’ve initiated discussions in Strasbourg, to ensure their blocking orders meet a basic natural justice standard - one that prevents abuse of Rule 39s to thwart removal. And it’s why the Bill will set out the conditions for the UK’s future compliance for such orders. Other countries share our dilemma and will understand the justice of our position. Our approach is robust and novel, which is why we can't make a definitive statement of compatibility under the section 91 B of the Human Rights Act. Of course the UK will always seek to uphold international law and I am confident that this Bill is compatible with international law. And when we’ve stopped the boats Mr. Speaker, the Bill will introduce an annual cap, to be determined by Parliament, on the number of refugees the UK will resettle via safe and legal routes. This will ensure an orderly system, considering Local Authority capacity for housing, public services, and support. So to conclude Mr. Speaker, the British people are famously a fair and patient people. But their sense of fair play has been tested beyond its limits. And they’ve seen the country taken for a ride and that patience has run out. The law-abiding patriotic majority have said: Enough is enough. This cannot and will not continue. Their government - this government – must act decisively. Must act with determination. Must act with compassion. Must act with proportion. So, make no mistake. This Government, this Prime Minister will act now to stop the boats. I commend this statement to the House. |