UK’s planned asylum overhaul would break international law: UNHCR

UN refugee agency blasts controversial Nationality and Borders Bill championed by governing right-wing Conservative Party.

New asylum laws planned by the United Kingdom will create an “unfair two-tier system” in violation of international law, the UN’s Refugee Agency has said.

In a statement on Thursday, UNHCR warned the Nationality and Borders Bill would “penalise most refugees seeking asylum in the country via damaging and unjustified penalties” if it comes into force.

Whether people are deemed to have entered the UK legally or illegally will affect how their asylum claim progresses under the proposals.