Quixplained: UK's new bill to curb illegal migration

Updated : Mar 10, 2023 19:30
|
AFP

Britain is facing a domestic and international backlash after unveiling contentious legislation to overhaul the way it handles migrants crossing the Channel on small boats. 

The Illegal Migration Bill places a legal duty on the interior minister to deport anyone who enters the UK illegally, superseding their other rights under human rights conventions.

They would be deported home or to a "safe third country", such as Rwanda, under an existing UK plan, where they could then claim asylum.

Legal challenges or human rights claims would be heard in that country. Applicants would be disqualified from using British laws aimed at preventing modern slavery to stop their deportation.

Illegal entrants who are removed also face·a lifetime ban on citizenship and re-entry to the UK.

The government is promising new "safe and legal routes" for refugees, but has yet to spell those out.

Lawmakers would set an annual quota for legal refugees eligible to settle in Britain.

MigrationUnited Kingdom

Recommended For You

editorji | World

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore face extended stay on ISS

editorji | World

'Satellite beams turned off over India': Musk rejects claim of Starlink misuse in Manipur

editorji | World

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill at least 12 Palestinians

editorji | World

Muhammad Yunus celebrates end of Sheikh Hasina’s ‘autocratic government’

editorji | World

Pope makes 1st papal visit to France’s Corsica awash in expressions of popular piety