Suella Braverman’s plan to stop people entering the UK through irregular routes from claiming asylum could be in breach of the refugee convention, the United Nations’ refugee agency has said.
The home secretary is reportedly drawing up a bill designed to create a “blanket ban” on anyone who enters the UK illegally, including by small boats, from claiming refuge.
But the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) has said that any such law “would almost certainly breach the refugee convention”, the agreement that has protected refugees since 1951, of which the UK is a signatory.
The convention says no refugee should be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom, known as the principle of non-refoulement, and stipulates that “subject to specific exceptions, refugees should not be penalised for their illegal entry or stays”.
A spokesperson for the UNHCR said it was “concerned by the UK home secretary’s announcement that those who arrive in the United Kingdom other than through safe, regular routes would no longer have access to the UK under proposed legislative reforms”.
“The details of the proposals are not yet available, and UNHCR welcomes the home secretary’s statement that the UK will always work within the bounds of international law. A blanket ban on access to asylum in the UK for those arriving irregularly would almost certainly breach the refugee convention, if this results in refugees being unable to exercise their convention rights, including by placing them at risk of enforced return to their own countries.
“Access to asylum should never be contingent on mode of arrival or nationality. The only way to establish whether people are refugees is through a fair and efficient determination of their claims, for which the UK has a clear responsibility,” the spokesperson said in a statement sent to the Guardian.
Whitehall sources said the government would work within international law. They pointed out that the government’s plan to send people to Rwanda, as established by Boris Johnson and Priti Patel, had always expected asylum claims to be made in the east African country.
The Times reported on Monday that Braverman was drawing up a bill on illegal immigration that goes further than existing legislation. It is designed to create a blanket ban on anyone who enters the UK illegally, including by small boat across the Channel, from claiming refuge.
Braverman addressed the Conservative party conference from the main stage at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on Tuesday. She claimed modern slavery laws were being abused by people seeking asylum and confirmed plans to introduce new laws that would stop those who arrive by irregular means from accessing the UK’s asylum system.
Reacting to Braverman’s speech, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “The home secretary has plenty of rhetoric but the reality is that under the Tories there are 6,000 fewer neighbourhood police and the rate of criminals being charged is now at a record low. After 12 years, the Tories are out of ideas and just fighting with each other.”
According to the Financial Times, Liz Truss is drawing up plans to make it easier for companies to bring in talented staff from overseas for short-term placements in the UK as employers complain about post-Brexit labour shortages in multiple industries.
The prime minister was keen to streamline “intra-company transfers” – under which a multinational company moves a skilled worker into the UK from abroad on a temporary basis – according to her allies, it was claimed.
