The U.K.’s illegal migration Bill on its way to becoming law

U.K. House of Lords passes Illegal Migration Bill, making it Home Secretary's duty to remove illegal migrants. Bill seeks to deter illegal migration, but UN refugee and human rights heads criticise it. Bill permits detention of children for up to 8 days, and removes protections for asylum seekers, victims of modern slavery and trafficked persons. .

In a victory for the  Rishi Sunak government, the U.K. House of Lords passed the Illegal Migration Bill, a law that will make it the Home Secretary’s “duty” to remove illegal migrants from the U.K. and significantly change existing protections for asylum seekers. By decreasing access to routes to asylum, the Bill seeks to deter illegal migration to the country – especially via small boats crossing the English Channel. The United Nations’ (UN) refugee and human rights heads criticised the legislation.

The Bill was passed late on Monday night after successfully seeing off challenges from Conservative MPs and a cross-party group of peers (i.e., members of the House of Lords).  Members of Parliament had overturned several suggestions from the House of Lords including a (shortened) time limit of three days on the detention of unaccompanied minors and prohibitions on sending LGBT migrants to 10 countries (mostly in Africa). 

The new Bill would also permit the government to detain children for up to eight days, and that too only if they applied for bail. 

Also defeated was a carve-out for victims of modern slavery and those trafficked (“unlawfully exploited”),  a provision backed by former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and influential Tory MP Ian Duncan Smith. Ms. May had introduced the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 when she was Home Secretary. 

The U.K. government will hope that the Bill will bolster its attempts to stop illegal channel crossings. ‘Stop the boats’- was one of Mr. Sunak’s five declared priorities in January this year. Some 45% of asylum applications in 2022 were from those who crossed the English Channel to reach the U.K.  A plan to remove refugees to Rwanda was declared illegal by the U.K. Court of Appeal, although the government plans to appeal the decision in the country’s Supreme Court. 

The new legislation raised questions around Britain’s obligations under international legal frameworks protecting refugees.

“For decades, the U.K. has provided refuge to those in need, in line with its international obligations — a tradition of which it has been rightly proud. This new legislation significantly erodes the legal framework that has protected so many, exposing refugees to grave risks in breach of international law,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Tuesday.