Human Rights Act may scupper migrant boats crackdown say experts
NEW laws to tackle the small boats crisis must override the Human Rights Act and decisions by European judges, legal experts have said.
Think-tank Policy Exchange said legislation must go further than appearing “to address the Channel crisis” and Home Secretary Suella Braverman should be “required” to remove illegal arrivals.
They say a new law could be a vital weapon in preventing migrants from making spurious claims to remain.
The UK must also override decisions by European judges and claims by asylum seekers under the Human Rights Act, the think tank said.
Challenge
The number of avenues a migrant can use to challenge deportation orders should also be drastically reduced while claims under the Modern Slavery Act must be ruled out, ministers were told.
Policy Exchange warned Britain’s immigration policy is “now set by people smugglers”.
Rishi Sunak has said new laws will bar anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum. Set to be introduced this month, the Home Office could detain and remove them to their home country or Rwanda.
The European Court of Human Rights blocked the Government’s first deportation flight to Rwanda. But Policy Exchange warned decisions will still be open to legal challenge. Prof Richard Ekins KC, professor of law and constitutional government at Oxford University, said: “The crisis in the Channel will not end until it is clear that choosing to cross on a small boat is not a viable means of entering and remaining in the UK. This cannot be achieved without reform to the legal framework, reform which requires legislation.
“It would be a bad mistake for the Government to propose legislation that appears to address the Channel crisis, but which fails to tackle the shortcomings in the existing law. Parliament needs to enact legislation that requires the Home Secretary to remove anyone who arrives or attempts to arrive in the UK on a small boat from a safe country.”