Rishi Sunak's 'half-baked' immigration plan 'will punish desperate refugees'

Critics have warned proposed legislation banning people who come here on small boats from making asylum claims will bring chaos while failing to end the dangerous Channel crossings

Legislation aimed at stopping Channel crossings will be unveiled this week 

By
John Stevens

Political Editor
5 Mar 2023

Rishi Sunak’s “half-baked” plans to tackle illegal immigration will punish desperate refugees rather than criminal gangs, it has been warned.

Ministers will unveil legislation next week banning people who cross the Channel on small boats from making asylum claims here.

But critics have warned the proposals will bring chaos while failing to end the dangerous crossings.

Mr Sunak has vowed to put an end to "immoral" illegal migration, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman said "enough is enough".

A proposed new law would see a duty placed on the Home Secretary to remove "as soon as reasonably practicable" anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or a "safe third country".

Arrivals will also be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans also to ban them from returning once removed.


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Jonathan Ashworth accused ministers of failing to stop smuggling gangs (
Image: PA)

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth cast doubt on whether the government’s latest plans to change the law will tackle the problem of dangerous Channel crossings.

The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary said: “We were told in the past that they've got plans and legislation that was going to deal with this problem and their promises came to nothing.

"Actually, we've seen more boat crossings and the criminal gangs getting away with more and more.”

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The Conservatives are responsible for an abysmal failure to tackle the huge increase in dangerous small boat crossings and the criminal gangs who are putting lives at risk and undermining border security.

“Ministers have made countless claims and promises yet the facts show their last law badly failed and made things worse. Instead of learning lessons, it looks like they are still recycling the same rhetoric and failure.

“Labour is calling urgently for a major new cross-border police unit to go after the criminal gangs, fast track asylum decisions and returns, and a new agreement with France and Belgium that can stop the dangerous crossings.”

Almost 3,000 people have already arrived across the Channel this year 

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Alistair Carmichael of the Liberal Democrat said: "This is another half baked plan that will punish the victims of human trafficking instead of the evil gangs who profit from these crossings.

"We all want to see these dangerous crossings stop, but there are currently no safe and legal routes for asylum seekers. Creating these needs to be the priority.

The latest Home Office figures show 2,950 migrants have crossed the Channel already this year.

Today it emerged deportation flights to Rwanda, which are central to the plan, may not happen until March 2024.

The controversial scheme has been mired in legal challenges and so far no planes have departed.

Advice provided to the Home Office by the Government Legal Service has warned it is "most likely" it will be tied up in the courts for more than a year.

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It came as trade unions warned that ministers are “complicit” in far-right organised violence and intimidation against refugees.

Protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers have been held in recent weeks.

In a statement organised by the Fire Brigades Union, the leaders of 14 unions said "the answer is solidarity, not scapegoating" to help deprived refugee communities.

"The Government is complicit in these attacks,” they warned. “The Rwanda policy does not make sense as a means of stopping small boat crossings - and it is failing on its own terms - but it fits with a long-running campaign of rhetoric and demonisation.

"Anti-migrant politics are an attempt to divide working class people against each other."

Signatories included Matt Wrack of the FBU, Unison president Andrea Egan, Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney of the National Education Union and Mick Lynch of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union.

UK plans to tackle Channel crisis pushes 'boundaries of international law’

New law will see anyone who arrives in the UK on a small boat removed to Rwanda or a 'safe third country'

Migrants are taken ashore in Dungeness, Kent, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel in November 2021. AFP

Soraya Ebrahimi

Mar 06, 2023

New legislation to deal with small boats carrying migrants across the Channel has “pushed the boundaries of international law”, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said.

Plans to remove and ban asylum seekers from re-entry if they arrive in the UK through unauthorised means are set to be unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ms Braverman on Tuesday.

The new Bill is one of Mr Sunak's five priorities for his premiership.

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UN says UK's asylum-seeker policy must comply with international law

But critics have warned that the proposals are “unworkable” and will leave thousands of migrants in limbo by banning them from ever claiming British citizenship again.

Despite plans such as forcibly removing asylum seekers to Rwanda being mired in legal challenges, ministers were expected to approach the limits of the European Convention on Human Rights with the new legislation.

“We must stop the boats and that’s what our bill will do," Ms Braverman wrote in The Telegraph. "No more sticking plasters or shying away from the difficult decisions.

“Myself and the Prime Minister have been working tirelessly to ensure we have a bill that works — we’ve pushed the boundaries of international law to solve this crisis.

“If you come here illegally it must be that you cannot stay.

A life boat returns to the Port of Dover in England amid a rescue operation of a missing migrant boat. Reuters

A duty will be placed on the Home Secretary to remove “as soon as reasonably practicable” anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or a “safe third country”.

And arrivals will be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans also to ban them from returning once removed.

Mr Sunak spoke to Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame before unveiling his plans, and pledged to continue working with him to ensure their stalled project works.

The government has paid more than £140 million ($168m) to Rwanda but no flights forcibly carrying migrants to the capital Kigali have taken off because of legal challenges.

“The leaders committed to continue working together to ensure this important partnership is delivered successfully," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

Mr Sunak will meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday to discuss further co-operation that will be required to reduce boat crossings.

Migrants at immigration processing centre in Manston - in pictures





A person gestures through a fence at the immigration processing centre in Manston, Kent in southern England. Reuters

Mr Sunak admitted voters “have heard promises before” without seeing results, but insisted his legislation “will mean that those who come here on small boats can’t claim asylum here”.

“This new law will send a clear signal that if you come to this country illegally, you will be swiftly removed,” he wrote in The Sun.

Mr Sunak said it was a plan “to do what’s fair for those at home and those who have a legitimate claim to asylum — a plan to take back control of our borders once and for all”.

The Immigration Services Union representing border staff said the plans were “quite confusing” and did not seem “possible” without the Rwanda policy functioning.

Lucy Moreton, the union’s professional officer, also suggested on BBC Radio 4 that smuggling gangs will tell people “quick, cross now before anything changes”, risking an increase in the number of crossings.

Labour leader Keir Starmer raised doubts about the legality and feasibility of the plans after the last one failed “to get us very far”.

“Now we’ve got the next bit of legislation with almost the same billing, I don’t think that putting forward unworkable proposals is going to get us very far,” Mr Starmer told LBC radio.

Asked if the plan was legally feasible, the Labour leader said: “I don’t know that it is and I think we’ve got to be very careful with international law here.”

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Afghan migrant documents dangerous journey across Channel

Mr Sunak has been under pressure to tackle the issue amid dire polling figures for the Conservatives.

Almost 3,000 migrants have made unauthorised crossings of the English Channel this year.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the plans “shatter the UK’s long-standing commitment under the UN Convention to give people a fair hearing, regardless of the path they have taken to reach our shores”.

“The government’s flawed legislation will not stop the boats but result in tens of thousands locked up in detention at huge cost, permanently in limbo and being treated as criminals simply for seeking refuge,” he added.

“It’s unworkable, costly and won’t stop the boats.”