The bill presented this Tuesday by the British government aims to “kill the boats” of migrants crossing the English Channelwhose journeys today reach figures never seen before and put pressure on the asylum system in that country.
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The British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, presented the bill that will grant the Government new powers to “stop the arrival of small boats” that reach the United Kingdom “flagrantly infringing”, in her opinion, national legislation and the will of the British.
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In a statement before the House of Commons (Lower), the head of the Interior recalled that two months ago the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, promised that “anyone who entered the country illegally would be arrested and expelled quickly” and that this legislative proposal “will allow this to happen”.
As he argued, “if a government does not respond to the waves of illegal arrivals that break our borders, it betrays the will of its citizens.”
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In her speech, the minister said that migrants “are not going to stop coming until the whole world knows that if you enter the UK illegally, you will be arrested and deported quickly, to your country, if it is safe. , or to a third country, such as Rwanda”.
But what is this legislation and why is it criticized?
What does the law state?
Under the new legislation, which will still have to go through the relevant parliamentary procedures in the coming months and which, if approved, would apply retroactively, Those who enter the country illegally will be quickly detained and expelled.
The law will allow detention without parole or judicial review for the first 28 days and only those under 18 years of age, those who are sick or are at risk of suffering irreversible damage “will be exempt from being expelled.”
The text facilitates the detention of immigrants until their expulsion. It also “radically” restricts the possibility of appealing against expulsions, Braverman said.
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The Sunak government was accused by human rights defenders of drafting a law contrary to international law. “We have expanded the limits of international law,” Braverman admitted to the press. But she assured the deputies: “I am sure that the project is compatible with our international obligations.” However, she acknowledged that could not say “definitively” whether the legislation complies with UK human rights law and stated that talks with the European Court of Human Rights have begun.
The minister also explained that an annual limit, determined by Parliament, will be set for people who are granted refugee status.
These strongly restrictive measures seek to discourage crossings and put an end to the business of people smugglers who charge exorbitant sums for the dangerous journey. But refugee aid organizations reply that the successive tightening of the rules had no effect and that Migrants will only leave the irregular pathway if the authorities offer legal ways of going to seek asylum in the UK, currently very limited.
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“If you are fleeing persecution or war, if you are fleeing Afghanistan or Syria and you fear for your life, how are you going to be able to claim asylum in the UK?” said Christina Marriott, director at the British Red Cross. “If people are going to be expelled, where is the government going to send them?” the NGO Care4Calais launched.
If you are fleeing persecution or war, if you are fleeing Afghanistan or Syria and you fear for your life, how can you claim asylum in the UK?
The UK passed a highly controversial law last year to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, an African country some 4,000 miles from London. But the plan was blocked by European courts and remains stalled.
In 2022 there were some 74,751 asylum applications in the UK. But the system has been overwhelmed by the recent influx: At the end of December, a record 160,000 asylum seekers awaited a decision.
To streamline the process, the government replaced the usual interview with a simple questionnaire for nationals of high-approval countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya and Syria. Last year, 76% of the applications processed received a positive response, that is, 14,275.
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This proportion is likely to increase after the numerous appeals filed. By comparison, some 924,000 asylum applications were registered in the EU in 2022, an increase of 50% on the previous year. In 2022, more than 310,000 people were granted asylum in the EU.
Never-before-seen figures
The number of irregular arrivals on English shores, often in overcrowded inflatable boats, has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2022, more than 45,700 migrants made this dangerous journey.
In 2018, 299 migrants had crossed the English Channel from the shores of France. In 2019 there were 1,843, 8,466 in 2020 and 28,526 in 2021, according to the British Ministry of the Interior.
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he trend has been maintained since the beginning of this year, with more than 3,000 arrivals on the English coast (double that of last year), including almost 200 this Monday alone.
This sharp increase in boat arrivals since 2018 followed the closure of the French port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel. Until then, many migrants arrived in the United Kingdom hidden in the trucks that crossed by these means.
By comparison, there were 330,000 irregular entries into the European Union in 2022, its highest level since 2016, according to the European border surveillance agency Frontex. This figure takes into account that a person can enter more than once. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), last year there were “187,993 illegal entries” into the EU.
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While in 2021 more than half of the migrants who crossed the English Channel came from Iran (30%) and Iraq (22%), Albanians were the most numerous (28%) in 2022, followed by Afghans (20 %), Iranians (13%) and Iraqis (10%).
The massive arrival of Albanians has provoked strong political criticism because their country is not at war. For most migrants, the English Channel is the last stage of a very long journey, which lasts months or even years. Many cross numerous countries, first in the Middle East or Africa, then in the Mediterranean and finally several countries on the European continent.
WILLIAM MORENO HERNANDEZ
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
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