Channel migrants will be banned from claiming asylum in the UK from today, under Rishi Sunak‘s bold plans.
Landmark legislation will bar illegal arrivals from staying and applying on refugee, modern slavery or human rights grounds. Only children and the gravely ill will be allowed to remain in Britain while cases are considered.
To avoid creating a dash to reach Britain, the rules will be effective from now even though it could be months before they are on the statute book.
The new Bill is also expected to give Parliament the power to set an annual cap on the number of refugees accepted into the country – with local authorities being consulted on how many they can take.
The PM is set to visit the South East as he trumpets the blueprint, part of his vow to ‘stop the boats’ after 45,000 people made the perilous crossing last year.
However, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has conceded the initiative ‘pushes the boundaries’ of international law and the government faces challenges in the courts and in Parliament.
Critics have also warned that the proposals are ‘unworkable’ because the UK does not have anywhere safe it can send the numbers who cross the Channel.
Cabinet was being briefed on the measures this morning before the formal announcement.
More migrants were brought ashore in Kent yesterday ahead of the new laws being unveiled
Tough measures to tackle small boat arrivals will be rushed through Parliament – and could be in place by summer. Pictured, a group is brought ashore in Dungeness yesterday
Rishi Sunak said ‘enough is enough’ as Home Secretary Suella Braverman vowed that ministers would tackle the Channel crisis ‘no ifs, no buts’
Mr Sunak admitted voters ‘have heard promises before’ without seeing results, but insisted his legislation ‘will mean that those who come here on small boats can’t claim asylum here’.
He wrote in the Sun: ‘This new law will send a clear signal that if you come to this country illegally, you will be swiftly removed.’
The PM said it was a plan ‘to do what’s fair for those at home and those who have a legitimate claim to asylum — a plan to take back control of our borders once and for all’.
Mr Sunak spoke to Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame before unveiling his plans, and pledged to continue working with him to ensure their stalled project works.
The Government has paid more than £140million to Rwanda but no flights forcibly carrying migrants to the capital of Kigali have taken off because of legal challenges.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘The leaders committed to continue working together to ensure this important partnership is delivered successfully.’
The PM will meet Emmanuel Macron on Friday to discuss further cooperation that will be required to reduce boat crossings.
Writing in the Telegraph, Ms Braverman – who is due to make a Commons statement at lunchtime – said: ‘We must stop the boats and that’s what our bill will do. No more sticking plasters or shying away from the difficult decisions.
‘Myself and the Prime Minister have been working tirelessly to ensure we have a bill that works – we’ve pushed the boundaries of international law to solve this crisis.
‘If you come here illegally it must be that you cannot stay.’
A duty will be placed on the Home Secretary to remove ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or a ‘safe third country’.
And arrivals will be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans also to ban them from returning once removed.
In the new bill, small boat migrants will be barred from lodging asylum claims and stripped of the ability to launch human rights appeals.
Nearly all those who arrive by illegal routes will be able to appeal only once they have been deported.
It is understood that migrants will be kept in student accommodation, cruise ships or holiday parks – in a change from hotels – until they are either sent back to their country of origin or to a third location such as Rwanda.
It has been reported that the Home Office is planning to purchase two RAF bases in Lincolnshire and Essex to house migrants waiting for deportation.
Asylum and human rights claims are expected to be ‘radically curtailed’ under the package.
New legislation will mean claims of human trafficking will need to rely on significant proof to be claimed.
Sources close to Mrs Braverman said: ‘The British people have had enough. This Government is determined to stop the boats and ensure we have all the powers available to remove illegal migrants from the country.
‘The Prime Minister and Home Secretary are resolved to this course of action, no ifs, no buts.’
Another insider said: ‘This new duty to remove will ensure that the Home Secretary’s power to remove migrants takes precedence in law and ensures asylum, human rights and modern slavery claims are blocked.’
In a separate development, ministers have not given up on sending the first plane-load of migrants to Rwanda this year. They have been encouraged by December’s court ruling that the deal with the African country is lawful.
Although the policy is still facing legal challenges ministers believe it could even be possible for an asylum flight to take off by the summer.
The full package of immigration measures is due to be unveiled by Mr Sunak and Mrs Braverman later today.
Immigration laws brought into force under Boris Johnson set out how the Home Secretary can declare a migrant’s claim inadmissible if they passed through a safe third country such as France.
Today’s strengthened package will see this applied almost across the board to all migrants.
The move will expand powers introduced by Labour in 2003 – ‘non-suspensive appeals’ – that allow asylum seekers to be removed after their initial claim is rejected.
However use of the powers has slumped. There were 1,285 asylum cases earmarked for the process in 2018, but in the first six months of last year only 171 were deemed eligible.
The Illegal Migration Bill will also see Channel migrants banned for life from coming back to Britain.
Ministers have insisted that they can ignore last-minute interventions by Strasbourg judges.
A new Bill of Rights, published last June but currently on hold, states unequivocally that ‘no account is to be taken of any interim measure issued by the European Court of Human Rights’.
But it is not yet known whether today’s legislation will include the measures.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman
James Cleverly and Dominic Raab were in Downing Street for Cabinet today
Rolled- up inflatable dinghies and outboard engines stored at a yard in Dover
A rarely-used measure under the Human Rights Act – known as a Section 19.1.B statement – will be deployed to get the legislation through Parliament
Ministers are braced for opposition from the Whitehall establishment – dubbed the ‘Blob’ – over their plan to tackle the Channel crisis.
Critics include former Home Office mandarin Sir David Normington who said it was ‘highly doubtful’ the proposals would lead to a fall in crossings.
Refugee charities and a trade union that represents immigration officers were also among those who questioned early details of the scheme.
Sir David told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘At the heart of the policy is a gamble that if you say it’s illegal to come in a small boat people will stop coming. I think that is highly doubtful.’
He predicted the Government’s plan would face ‘very great’ problems.
Lucy Moreton of the Immigration Services Union also cast doubt on the plans, describing them as ‘quite confusing’.
Enver Solomon of the Refugee Council described the legislation as flawed, adding: ‘It’s unworkable, costly and won’t stop the boats.’
Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International UK condemned the proposed measures as ‘disgraceful posturing and scaremongering’.
Asked whether the plan was legally feasible, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer replied: ‘I don’t know that it is and I think we’ve got to be very careful with international law here.’
But the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘We’ve seen too many lives lost attempting this dangerous and unnecessary journey, and the number of people entering the country is simply unsustainable. As we’ve always said, we recognise there will likely be challenges in many forms to this sort of legislation.’
A No 10 spokesman said the Government would stop all small boats but declined to put a timescale on the plans.
